Have you ever wondered how many babies are born worldwide every second? Maybe you are expecting yourself and want to know how many children will share the same birthday with your new bundle of joy, or maybe you are just curious.
Whatever the reason, Stem Cell Storage Company Smart Cells has created a handy interactive counter that reveals how many babies are born each second, minute and hour worldwide, but also highlights the differences in prenatal care received by mothers in different continents.
During the research, Smart Cells also found a stark difference between the percentage of children under the age of five who have the blood disease anaemia between continents and births that were attended by skilled health staff.
Anaemia is one of the most common blood disorders and is most prevalent in children under the age of five. Stem cell therapy can be used to treat the disorder by boosting the body’s production of red blood cells to help balance the blood and improve the symptoms of anaemia.
According to Unicef, there are an estimated 130 million babies born worldwide each year, with an estimated global population of 7.7 billion; this number is expected to rise over the next few decades and could hit 9.8 billion in the year 2050.
The interactive counter starts when you open the page, tallying up birth rates by continent until you close the page. The drop-down menu can be used to see how many babies are born every second, minute or hour throughout the different continents.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the most babies born with one born less than every second (72 every minute) and 4,344 every hour. Sub-Saharan Africa also has the highest rates of anaemia in children under five and one of the lowest of prenatal care and births attended by skilled health staff.
The lack of adequate care during delivery is a big problem, especially in developing countries where the resources and skills needed are in short supply. This short supply of midwives and healthcare professionals is partly to blame for 2.5 million newborns that died in their first month in 2017.
Smart Cells CEO Shamshad Ahmed commented on the research saying, “Our research has shown that there are huge variations in the number of births globally, some countries seeing significantly less than others and the disparities in healthcare for pregnant women from those in the developed world to those from less developed nations. We show that Anaemia affects almost one-third of the world’s population and is significantly more prevalent in certain continents compared to others, with children in the poorer regions across Asia and Africa most affected.
Stem cell therapy, however, can help alleviate the symptoms of anaemia, by boosting the production of healthy red blood cells. Additionally, our research highlighted, there are still women who do not have access to or only limited access to prenatal health care, whilst even more, do not have a skilled member of health staff in attendance for the birth. Maternal healthcare is still inadequate in many nations.”