A woman died every two minutes because of pregnancy or childbirth in 2020, according to the new report — evidence that progress in confronting maternal mortality has stalled.

A woman died every two minutes because of pregnancy or childbirth in 2020, according to a new World Health Organization report that shows the stark persistence of preventable maternal deaths over the past two decades.

From 2016 to 2020, maternal mortality rates stagnated in the majority of countries, the report shows.

But they rose in 17 countries. In the United Nations-designated regions encompassing Europe and Northern America, maternal mortality rates increased by 17% from 2016 to 2020. In Latin America and the Caribbean, they increased by 15%.

“While pregnancy should be a time of immense hope and a positive experience for all women, it is tragically still a shockingly dangerous experience for millions around the world who lack access to high quality, respectful health care,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The new report, which features data collected from 185 countries and territories from 2000 to 2020, shows the degree to which progress in confronting maternal mortality has stalled.

An estimated 287,000 maternal deaths occurred in 2020, the report found — defined as deaths that occur because of pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications, during pregnancy or within six weeks after pregnancy ends.

But that number does not account for the full scope of the coronavirus pandemic’s impacts, which research suggests have been significant: Covid-19 was a contributing factor in 25% of maternal deaths in the U.S. in 2020 and 2021, according to a government report released last fall.

“The weaker the health system is before a disaster, the more it’s impacted afterwards,” said Dr. Willibald Zeck, the chief of sexual and reproductive health and rights at the United Nations Population Fund.

About 70% of the estimated maternal deaths in 2020 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, the WHO report found.