Bulgaria ranks 37th in the annual Save The Children State of the World's Mothers report, lagging behind Belarus, Romania and Serbia.

Norway is No. 1, just ahead of Iceland and Sweden. The West African state of Niger is the worst place in the world to be a mother, according to the report.

The report's ranking of 165 nations factors in measures of education, health and economic status as well as the health and nutrition of children.

The charity describes how chronic malnutrition leads mothers, who themselves have been stunted in childhood, to go on to have underweight and vulnerable babies.

It warns that if a mother is "impoverished, overworked, poorly educated and in poor health, she may not be able to feed the baby adequately, with largely irreversible effects".

"We urgently need global leadership on malnutrition that results in key nutrition projects being rolled out for mothers and babies to ensure health and survival," director of policy Brendan Cox said.

Save the Children believes that measures focusing on the first 1,000 days of a child's life, starting from pregnancy, could help to break the vicious cycle.

"We urgently need global leadership on malnutrition that results in key nutrition projects being rolled out for mothers and babies to ensure health and survival," said director of policy Brendan Cox.

Save the Children believes that measures focusing on the first 1,000 days of a child's life, starting from pregnancy, could help to break the vicious cycle.

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