Most parts of world saw maternal mortality rates spike in 2020

FILE PHOTO: A pregnant woman is seen through the curtain at a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, October 31, 2004. REUTERS/Mykhailo Markiv

(Reuters) - Maternal mortality rates climbed or stagnated in nearly all regions across the world in 2020, according to a report released by U.N. agencies on Wednesday, marking a major setback in global efforts to combat complications during childbirth or pregnancy.

The report, which tracks maternal mortality nationally, regionally and globally from 2000 to 2020, showed there were an estimated 287,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2020, and it marks only a slight decrease from 309,000 in 2016.