The maternity crisis
Did you know that Black women are four times more likely to die during and after pregnancy in the UK?
Giving birth should be a happy and joyful experience to welcome new life into the world. But sadly, for some families, it becomes a time of utter despair and darkness.
Just under 1 in 10,000 women suffer maternal death in the UK.
And according to MBRRACE-UK, Black women are four times more likely to die from pregnancyrelated or childbirth causes than white women – and Asian women face twice the risk.
Minority ethnic groups are at greater risk of their baby dying in the womb or soon after birth, and at greater risk of long-term health problems.
These racial disparities have always been present in society – but it is only in the past year that many of us have actually learnt about them.
Recently, the conversation around Black maternal health has gained mainstream attention.
In June 2020, a campaign called Five X More petitioned the government to commit to improve maternal mortality rates for Black women in the UK.
Over 187,000 people signed the petition, and the campaign is set to be debated in parliament later this year.
Last month, The Black Maternity Scandal: Dispatches aired on Channel 4.
The documentary followed presenter Rochelle Humes on a journey, looking into the shocking mortality rate of Black women during pregnancy.
Rochelle discussed the absence of previous government attention and lack of support for Black and marginalised communities.
Professor Marion Knight from Oxford University told Rochelle: ‘We’ve been counting these numbers for years, but nobody was doing anything about it.’
With a growing number of medical experts arguing that methods can be introduced to reduce these disparities, Rebecca Wheeler, advanced practice registered nurse and educational specialist at Oxford Medical Simulation, shares her perspective.
‘There has always been a maternal mortality problem in the UK, but we’re becoming more and more aware of the impact of racial disparity and the statistics are impossible to ignore,’ Rebecca says. Black women are more likely to have conditions that can put them at greater risk, including preeclampsia, cardiac disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Amniotic fluid embolism, also known as AFE, is a life-threatening and unexpected birth complication that is a leading cause of maternal death. Previous research shows that Black women and other minority ethnic groups are three times more likely to die from AFE than White women. ‘It’s incredibly important that we start opening up these conversations,’ Rebecca says.
Alongside awareness, Rebecca believes improving maternity training and healthcare is essential.
‘Declaring that racial disparity is a public health crisis must be more than just acknowledgement to the problem,’ Rebecca states.
‘Patients need more positive experiences with childbirth and encounters with medical professionals – it’s essential they understand the needs of different ethnic groups,’ Rebecca says.
Rebecca believes virtual reality training and screen
based simulation technology to train healthcare professionals is an invaluable solution to improve outcomes for maternity patients and their newborn babies.
‘There is a strong focus on medical development and training, and with the awareness of experts and physicians across the nation, reducing racial disparities appears to have taken a top spot on the public health agenda,’ Rebecca explains.
In 2019, the NHS made a commitment to fast track a universal programme for ethnic minority women and those from the most deprived backgrounds in the UK.
The target is that by 2024, 75% of these women will receive their care from the same midwife and team throughout their pregnancy to after childbirth.
The initiative is called Midwifery Continuity of Carer (MCOC) and is proven to significantly reduce poor maternal outcomes.
Whilst the NHS does have the MCOC initiative in place, there are still no targets to reduce the mortality rate.
The Five X More campaign are hopeful that their debate in parliament this year will change that.
Whilst the political battle continues, hundreds of women are uniting together online.
Groups like Five X More and Mummy’s Day Out support mothers with regular meetups, campaigning work and recommendations.
Information, advice and petitions are available online for pregnant mothers and fellow supporters.
Conclusively, more work is needed to explore and eradicate the maternal racial disparities in the UK.
Further research must happen to establish the causes behind morbidity and identify consistent gaps in care.
There is a new driving force to improve medical training, raise mainstream awareness and implement NHS targets.
The colour of a woman’s skin should not impact her or her baby’s health.