Morning Briefing

"An Afghan woman can expect to have an average 5.1 babies in her lifetime, the highest fertility rate in Asia," Reuters writes in the first of two articles examining childbirth and maternal mortality in Afghanistan. The news service adds that "giving birth a common, and frequent experience -- but mothers say it is too often also hard, lonely and frightening." The article recounts the experiences of several mothers giving birth in hospitals throughout the country (Kearney/Harvey, 12/12).