New Delhi, April 7 : A woman died almost every two minutes, or more than 700 women died daily from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth in 2023, according to data from the UN and World Health Organization on World Health Day on Monday.

World Health Day is celebrated on April 7 every year. The theme this year Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures, urges governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths and to prioritise women's longer-term health and well-being.

The report titled Trends in maternal mortality shows a 40 per cent global decline in maternal mortality ratio (MMR, number of maternal deaths per 100 000 live births) between 2000 and 2023.

It showed that since 2016, the pace of improvement slowed down significantly, and that an estimated 260,000 women died in 2023 due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth.

More than 90 per cent of all maternal deaths occurred in low and lower-middle-income countries in 2023, said the report.

'While this report shows glimmers of hope, the data also highlights how dangerous pregnancy still is in much of the world today despite the fact that solutions exist to prevent and treat the complications that cause the vast majority of maternal deaths,' said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO.

'In addition to ensuring access to quality maternity care, it will be critical to strengthen the underlying health and reproductive rights of women and girls ' factors that underpin their prospects of healthy outcomes during pregnancy and beyond.'

Further, the report also provides the first global account of the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on maternal survival.

In 2021, an estimated 40,000 more women died due to pregnancy or childbirth -- increasing to 322,000 from 282,000 in 2020.

Besides the direct complications caused by Covid infection, the deaths were also due to widespread interruptions to maternity services, the report said.

'This highlights the importance of ensuring such care during pandemics and other emergencies, noting that pregnant women need reliable access to routine services and checks as well as round-the-clock urgent care,' said the report.

/IANS