A U.N. report says the global mortality rate for women giving birth has been cut in nearly half over the past two decades.

The report released Wednesday by the Geneva-based World Health Organization said maternal deaths declined from 540,000 in 1990 to 287,000 in 2010.

However, the report showed that one woman still dies from pregnancy-related complications every two minutes.

It said sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia account for most of the deaths.

One third of all the women's deaths during childbirth in 2010 were in just two countries: India and Nigeria. India had 20 percent of pregnancy-related deaths and Nigeria had 14 percent.