The Best Countries For Women’s Health

Women’s health covers a wide range of medical needs that are unique to women, yet significant inequalities persist around the world. Studies continue to highlight a global ‘gender health gap’, showing that women often face more barriers to accessing the care they need.

However, some countries are taking meaningful steps to close this gap through better policy, investment and education. In this article, we hope to shine the spotlight on nations that are making notable progress in women’s healthcare and explore what others can learn from their approach.

Women’s healthcare challenges around the world

Women’s healthcare is shaped by a unique set of challenges. These include:

• A lack of research and investment in areas of healthcare that particularly impact women
• Gender bias in medical training and diagnosis, leading to symptoms being dismissed or underestimated
• Limited access to reproductive and maternal healthcare, particularly in rural or low‑income regions
• Government or religious policies that restrict women’s access to healthcare
• Poor education and awareness around women’s health
• Social stigma that may make women less likely to seek medical attention when they need it

These factors often lead to poorer patient outcomes, and this is especially pronounced in developing countries.

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The best countries for maternity services

Maternity is a field of medicine that represents one of the cornerstones of women’s health, and is an area of intense focus for global healthcare services. Total worldwide spending on maternity care was around US$114 billion in 2025, and is growing at a rate of 3.6% year-on-year.

Maternity is a complex field concerned with the care of women from pregnancy, through labour, delivery and postpartum care. Maternity requires a specialist level of care delivered by doctors such as obstetricians, perinatologists and neonatologists, and highly-trained nurses called midwives. 

Maternity care utilises a wide range of specialist procedures and equipment. Ultrasound machines are needed to monitor a baby’s progress in the womb and identify potential issues. During delivery, a team of midwives must coordinate a safe birth and, when vaginal delivery cannot be induced, the focus switches to cesarean (C-section) birth which requires a surgeon to remove the baby from the uterus. If a baby is born premature or underweight, the focus switches to neonatal care, which provides monitoring and intervention to ensure the baby can survive the critical post-birth period.

These are critical moments in a woman’s life, and require specialist medical staff to ensure everything goes smoothly. This is why many countries invest heavily in maternity care. However, there are still many countries where the quality of maternity care is severely lacking – either through lack of specialist staff, lack of equipment, or poor policies and procedures – and where delivering a baby can still be considered a risk.

It’s hard to say which countries are objectively the best for maternity services, but we can break down our list into various categories that show which countries are leading the way in certain fields of maternity care.

Which countries invest the most in maternity services?

It can be surprisingly challenging to determine which countries invest the most on maternity services, as maternity healthcare is often included among other forms of healthcare spending.

Some countries also combine spending on maternity healthcare with other maternity policies, such as maternity leave. Furthermore, many wealthy countries also invest in foreign aid to support the development of maternity care overseas, which increases their budget without directly adding to their own services.

While the country that spends far-and-away the most on maternity services is the US, at over $100 billion annually, these costs are inflated by the United States’ private maternity market, which is used by 51% of new mothers. 

Countries that directly invest the most in their maternity healthcare services

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Which countries are the safest to give birth?

Throughout history, maternal mortality (death as a result of complications during pregnancy or childbirth) has been one of the leading causes of women’s deaths around the world. Even today, 4.5 million women and babies die every year during pregnancy, delivery or in the first few weeks after childbirth.

Having said that, it’s also safer today than at any other time in history to carry and give birth to a child. This is especially true in developed nations. For instance, at the beginning of the twentieth century, roughly one in every 200 women in the UK died during pregnancy or childbirth; in 2023, it was just one in every 8,751.

That’s not to say pregnancy and childbirth are perfectly safe, but the development of modern medicine and modern midwifery practices have significantly reduced the risk of death in developed countries.

In developing countries, the risk is still high – the worst countries in the world for maternal mortality are Chad and the Central African Republic, where one in every 24 women passes away during childbirth.

Countries with the lowest rates of death during pregnancy or childbirth

Which countries have the most midwives?

Midwives are highly skilled professionals who ensure the safety of women and infants, and often serve as the primary point of care for maternal health needs. They play a crucial role in the healthcare sector, providing specialised care and support to women and newborns during the pregnancy, delivery and postpartum stages of childbirth.

The number of midwives a country has is a good representation of that country’s investment in maternal healthcare. There is a strong correlation between countries that employ more midwives and countries that produce better outcomes in maternal healthcare metrics, most importantly with lower mortality (although this is not always the case).

Countries that employ the highest number of midwives relative to the population

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Which countries have the lowest numbers of underweight births?

A child born below the standard minimum weight of 5 pounds, 8 ounces presents a serious medical concern. As well as increasing that infant’s risk of mortality, it also poses the risk of the child developing chronic illnesses and developmental issues in later life. Underweight infants often require extensive neonatal care.

There are many potential causes of underweight birth. One of the most commonly seen is fetal growth restriction, which can stem from problems the mother encounters during pregnancy, including malnutrition, infections, chronic health conditions and poor maternal behaviour (e.g. smoking and drinking alcohol). 

Some (but not all) of the factors that lead to fetal growth restriction can be identified and treated before or during pregnancy, so long as the mother has access to adequate maternal healthcare resources. Therefore, there is a slight negative correlation between the underweight babies born and the availability of maternal healthcare resources in a country.

Countries that saw the lowest percentage of live births where babies were born underweight

Which countries are the best for family planning?

Family planning gives women the ability to make informed choices about having children. This could mean receiving consultation about the optimal time to achieve pregnancy, the time needed between pregnancies, and ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies through effective contraception. 

For women who have trouble conceiving, family planning may also lead to fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilisation. Family planning also covers sexual health, ensuring that women are able to practice safe sex. Abortion can also be considered part of family planning, although only in countries where it is legal.

Family planning is not just for women, but women’s support makes up the majority of family planning services. Countries that invest in family planning see a 32% reduction in maternal deaths during pregnancy and a 10% reduction in infant mortality.

Family planning can also have knock-on effects such as increased family savings, better career opportunities for women, higher investment in individual children, reduced rates of poverty and a more sustainable environment.

Countries that provide the most access to family planning resources

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The best countries for contraceptive health

Another cornerstone of women’s health is access to modern contraceptive methods. Contraception is important not only to help women avoid unwanted pregnancies, it can also help to manage menstrual cycles and can be used to treat illnesses such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome.

Access to contraception varies by country and can be influenced by economic factors (i.e. poverty), by government or religious policy, or by social stigma. It has been estimated that around 160 million women worldwide are unable to meet their contraceptive needs.

Still, most modern and economically advanced countries make contraception easy and affordable to access, with many countries offering contraception as a part of their state healthcare system.

The best countries for access to safe, affordable and modern contraceptive methods

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The best countries for menstrual health

Menstrual health covers the physical, mental and social well-being of women as they go through their menstrual cycle. It focuses on hygiene, sanitation, education and – when required – medical diagnosis, treatment and care.

The World Health Organization (WHO) enshrined menstrual health as a fundamental human right at the 56th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, held in Geneva from 18 June to 12 July 2024. This means that, moving forward, governments will have a responsibility to ensure universal and affordable access to hygiene products and facilities, to provide education around menstrual health, and to ensure women have appropriate access to sanitary hygiene facilities. 

But there is still a long way to go: currently, only 39% of schools worldwide provide menstrual health education, and just 31% provide bins for menstrual waste in girls’ toilets.

There is also the stark issue of ‘period poverty’ – wherein women and girls, especially those from lower socioeconomic groups, are unable to afford sanitary products. This is an issue affecting rich countries as well as poor countries: a study by Plan International found that 40% of girls in the UK have experienced period poverty.

The problem is exacerbated by the so-called ‘pink tax’, the gender-blind VAT levied on sanitary products, which many countries are seeking to unravel.

Which countries have abolished the ‘tampon tax’?

According to Context News, these countries have scrapped or reduced VAT on period products:

Many countries have also made huge leaps forward when it comes to providing free menstrual health products. In August 2022, Scotland became the first country in the world to make all period products free, while many other countries and regions have ensured women and girls can access free period products in schools, universities and elsewhere.

Different countries have different types of healthcare systems

Learn more about different types of healthcare systems globally

Which countries provide free period products?

According to the Global Poverty Project, these countries have started to provide free period products in certain places:

Find out how these countries compare globally

Here’s our list of the best countries in the world for healthcare overall

The best countries for women’s cancer treatments

While women are slightly less likely to be diagnosed with cancer than men (1/2 men vs 1/3 women), and while the two genders are at risk of many of the same forms of cancer, women are uniquely vulnerable to certain forms of cancer, such as ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal cancer and vulval cancer. And, while men may be affected by breast cancer, women are significantly more likely, making up 99% of cases.

As such, women require special screenings throughout their lives to check for the risk of these cancers. These can range from blood tests and ultrasound scans to check for the risk of ovarian cancer, to cervical screenings to check for cervical cancer, and mammograms to check for breast cancer.

Which countries have the best survival rates for breast cancer?

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, accounting for 30% of all cases in females in the United Kingdom. Thankfully, it is also one of the most treatable.

The one-, five- and ten-year survival rates for breast cancer in the UK are 96%, 87% and 78% respectively—although outcomes can vary depending on the type and stage at diagnosis—putting it significantly ahead of the general average for all cancers (79%, 59%, 54% respectively).

Survival rates tend to be significantly higher in more developed countries, especially in those that actively promote breast screening to detect cancer early, and in those that provide patients with the highest-quality treatment and care. As such, the 10-year survival rates for breast cancer tend to be significantly higher in certain countries.

The best countries for breast cancer survival rates

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Which countries have the best survival rates for ovarian cancer?

While ovarian cancer is not as common as other forms, it still ranks as the sixth most common form of cancer in women, affecting roughly one in every 50 women at some point in their lives.

Therefore, like breast cancer, it is a high priority for healthcare providers. It can only be detected through a combination of blood tests, CT scans and tissue biopsies and imaging, making it much harder to detect than other forms of cancer.

Survival rates for ovarian cancer vary between countries. Less advanced forms of ovarian cancer can be treated effectively, with survival rates as high as 95% for stage 1 cancers. More advanced forms of ovarian cancer are harder to treat, and survival rates fall to 15%, even in advanced countries like the UK.

Countries with the highest survival rates for localised ovarian cancer

(Localised meaning less advanced, epithelial forms of ovarian cancer)

Which countries have the best survival rates for cervical cancer?

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in women, affecting 660,000 people and causing around 350,000 deaths in 2022.

Around 95% of all cervical cancer cases are caused by repeated infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection. HPV is usually symptomless and can lie dormant in the cervix for many years, which is why it is important for women to receive immunisation against HPV, and to attend cervical screenings throughout their lives to test for its presence. When treated early, cervical cancer can almost always be cured.

Survival rates for cervical cancer are hard to come by, however of the countries that have reported their instances, the one below have shown the most success with treating cervical cancer, i.e. those that show the best five-year survival rates.

Countries with the highest survival rates for cervical cancer

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Which regions have provided the most immunisations against HPV?

Almost all countries in the developed world have now implemented a HPV vaccination schedule, mainly directed towards girls at about 12 years old. However, many countries in the Middle East, South East Asia and the Pacific are yet to implement a full HPV vaccination schedule.

Regions with the highest number of immunisations against HPV

Which countries have conducted the most cervical screenings?

Cervical screenings are an effective method to assess the health of a cervix, and allows the physician to detect HPV. Early detection of HPV can help to prevent cervical cancer, therefore a cervical screening is considered an essential diagnostic test for all women.

Countries that have conducted the most cervical screenings

Conclusion

While it’s hard to say definitively which are the best overall countries for women’s health, it is easy to see how complex and vital women’s healthcare is around the world.

Women’s health is a vast field covering many aspects of healthcare, which in some countries has only recently started to receive significant attention from healthcare providers. 

Most of the countries appearing in our data are developed nations, which underlines a wider reality: there is still a significant gap in women’s healthcare between wealthier and less-developed countries.

Proactivity, education and self-care are all key when it comes to women’s healthcare around the world. It’s also important to understand the local healthcare market in your country, and to make informed choices about your healthcare provider.

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