Fewer than 10 women a year die in childbirth in the Netherlands compared with 241 in 1950, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

The sharpest drop was recorded between 1950 and 1970 when major advances were made in healthcare procedures around pregnancy and birth. But the invention of the birth control pill also had a role, the CBS said.

Older women are more likely to die in childbirth. Just over five women under the age of 34 die for every 100,000 births, compared with 10.7 in every 100,000 for older women.

Blood pressure issues are the most common cause of birth-related deaths.