‘They didn’t believe I was in labour’ says Black mother ‘ignored’ by midwives
The Women and Equalities Committee in a recent report has challenged the government over failures to address inequalities in maternity care which have led to Black women dying at four times the rate of white women.
Tinuke Awe, 31, was left ‘traumatised’ and forced to go without pain relief after midwives didn’t believe she was in labour.
Ms Awe, was induced after experiencing late pre-eclampsia while pregnant with her first child in 2017. She said: “Pre-eclampsia can be life-threatening for mum and baby, and it could’ve been fatal if I wasn’t treated. I was told I couldn’t leave the hospital and had to be induced".
“They said the hormones could take 24 hours to work, but my labour happened really quickly and when I told the midwife she didn’t even believe I was in labour.”
“I felt so overlooked and it was horrible how nobody listened to me,” she added. “I ended up having to have an assisted delivery which isn’t what I wanted, but it could’ve been avoided if someone had acknowledged I was in labour rather than ignore me. I just felt so unimportant.”
Ms Aew alongside Clotilde Abe set up the charity Five X More. The organisation helps give advice and empower Black women to make informed choices during pregnancy and after childbirth.
Five X More hope that the testimonials of the women they support can be used to show that better outcomes are possible with their ‘five steps for self-advocacy‘ being used to encourage women to ask for things like a second opinion.
Source: The Independent, 18 April 2023
Read our interview with Tinuke Awe on the hub: Five X More campaign: Improving maternal mortality rates and health outcomes for black women