Carolyn Miles, the CEO of Save the Children, has written this startling column for CNN that looks at America’s relatively low ranking on the organization’s State of the World’s Mothers Index. Despite being 10th in the world for per capita income, the U.S. is 30th on the Mother’s Index. Why so low? According to the piece, the primary factor is a low survival rate for mothers and babies. Here are some stats from Save the Children:

When it comes to a woman's lifetime risk of dying in pregnancy or childbirth, we do better than only five other developed countries: Albania, Latvia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. American women are 10 times more likely to die eventually from pregnancy-related causes than women in Estonia, Greece or Singapore … In the United States, 11,300 babies a year die on the day they are born. That's more than in the rest of the industrialized world combined.

The organization is currently trying to identify the reasons behind the low survival rate, but have observed several contributing factors: obesity, high rates of elective cesarean section deliveries and age can all play a role. But, they’ve also found that survival rates are lowest in economically poor communities and are asking lawmakers to create a National Commission on Children to address the challenges facing mothers who live in poverty … Discuss

When a college professor asked students to come up with a product that would meet an actual need instead of just contributing to an existing fad, Veronika Scott had an idea. After spending months interviewing members of the homeless community in her hometown in Colorado to understand the challenges of daily life on the street, she created the sleeping bag coat. Using fabric donated by several companies and initially funded by local donations, her coats became a sensation.

Today, the now-23-year-old’s non-profit company called The Empowerment Plan employs 10 formerly homeless women to make coats that are sent (for free) to homeless shelters around the country. One unexpected twist in her company’s sudden rise to success: The coats were evidently a hit at Aspen's fashion week. Scott is now working on a for-profit sister company that will sell the coats to help fund the non-profit efforts in the future … Discuss

This incredible, heartbreaking video has been on YouTube for a year, but it's the hottest thing on Reddit right now, as thousands of redditors are looking to find Ron Davis and get him a job in Chicago. Coming off a rough week in which the site was very rightfully chastised for interfering with the manhunt for for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Reddit is trying to redeem itself, and this video is a great start. In a matter of hours, they've located Mr. Davis, sent him a care package, a pre-paid phone and are looking at finding him a job. The website has tremendous potential for good, particularly when it's focusing its energies on common humanity and kindness instead of complex justice procedures. Head over to the Reddit thread to see if there's a way you can help—not just Mr. Davis, but everyone out there who is just looking for a decent shot at work ... Discuss

Actor and director Ben Affleck is joining 20,000 other volunteer activists who have signed up to live on less than $1.50 a day for one week. People who sign up for The Live Below the Line campaign, which runs from April 29 to May 3, pledge to not spend more than $1.50 each day on food as a way to raise awareness for the 1.4 billion people globally who currently live below the line of extreme poverty. Those who sign up for the campaign can also select one of several international humanitarian initiatives helping to fight world hunger to make a donation to. So far, more than $175,000 has been raised … Discuss