The World Health Organization revised guidelines on antenatal care on Monday, saying pregnant women should have twice as many contacts with health providers - eight - as it recommended previously.

More antenatal contacts help to reduce the chance of stillbirths, with 8 fewer perinatal deaths per 1,000 births, the WHO said in a statement.

Last year about 303,000 women globally died from pregnancy related causes, 2.7 million babies died in their first 28 days of life and 2.6 million were stillborn. Only 64 percent of women received antenatal care four or more times during their pregnancy.

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