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On the other side of the world during the same century (17th century) in Sweden, the Queen Ulrika Eleonora, also distraught by losing people close to her,  took a different approach than that of the Shah in India. She put out a mandate to her Swedish physicians to create a plan through which one or two women from each town would be required to come to Stockholm for midwifery training. Sweden became a leader in reducing maternal mortality, consistent to this day. By the maternal mortality estimates of WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA for the year 2000 their maternal mortality ratio was the lowest in the world – 1-2 per 100,000. One has to ask, which direction makes more sense? That of the Shah or the Queen of Sweden? Sometimes women are just more practical. As beautiful as the Taj Mahal is, the Queen wanted to do something, rather than create a shrine that wouldn’t do anything to change the situation.