Addressing critical gaps in Black maternal mental healthcare: a new partnership project is launched (interview with Sandra Igwe)

Summary

Sandra Igwe is the Founder and CEO of The Motherhood Group and author of the bestselling book "My Black Motherhood: Mental Health, Stigma, Racism and the System". She served as Co-chair for the National Inquiry into Racial Injustice in Maternity Care and is also a Topic leader for Patient Safety Learning’s hub, with a focus on Black Maternal Mental Health.

In this interview Sandra tells us about a new partnership project, bringing together The Motherhood Group, Centre for Mental Health, and the Maternal Mental Health Alliance to address critical gaps in Black maternal mental healthcare.

Content

Sandra, you are a Founder and CEO of The Motherhood Group and author of a bestselling book "My Black Motherhood: Mental Health, Stigma, Racism and the System". You served as Co-chair for the National Inquiry into Racial Injustice in Maternity Care and Partner for the Mayor of London's Anti-Racism Hub. And you are, of course, a Topic leader for Patient Safety Learning’s hub.

Can you tell us any more about yourself and what motivates you?

I am a proud mum to three beautiful girls - an eight-year-old, a six-year-old, and an almost nine-month-old baby. I'm deeply passionate about bridging the gaps between Black mothers and the healthcare system, using my voice in any capacity to improve maternal health outcomes in the UK.

At my core, I'm simply a driven mum who can't stand injustice, who loves creating safe spaces for other mothers, and who's brave enough to say the things many Black mothers want to, but are too afraid to voice. 

Why was The Motherhood Group founded?

The Motherhood Group was founded in response to the stark disparities in maternal health outcomes for Black women in the UK. Research consistently shows that Black women are four times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth compared to white women, while experiencing higher rates of complications and poorer mental health outcomes. These disparities stem from systemic issues including lack of culturally competent care, implicit bias in healthcare settings, and barriers to accessing mental health support.

We established The Motherhood Group to create a comprehensive support system that addresses these critical patient safety issues through advocacy, education, and direct support. Our approach focuses on both supporting Black mothers and educating healthcare providers to deliver more culturally competent care.

What have been your key achievements since The Motherhood Group was established?

Our achievements demonstrate our commitment to improving patient safety and maternal health outcomes:

• Reached and supported 12,721 Black mothers through our events, workshops, and peer support sessions.
• Delivered cultural competency training to 2,991 healthcare professionals, improving their ability to provide safe and appropriate care.
• Facilitated 742 peer support events and projects.
• Established partnerships with 3,088 organisations and charities.
• Coordinated five annual Black Maternal Mental Health Week UK campaigns, with our most recent event attracting over 1,200 registrations.
• Commissioned by Southwark Maternity Commission to engage with over 750 Black mothers and healthcare practitioners on improving outcomes.
• Successfully launched the Black Maternal Health Conference UK, consistently drawing over 1,000+ attendees.

Can you tell us more about your new partnership project?

We're thrilled to announce our Black Maternal Mental Health Project. This ground-breaking partnership brings together The Motherhood Group, Centre for Mental Health, and the Maternal Mental Health Alliance to address critical gaps in Black maternal mental healthcare.

Our vision is to delve deeper into the mental health aspects of Black motherhood than ever before. We aim to uncover and address the complex intersections between racial trauma, systemic barriers, and maternal mental health. This includes creating safe spaces where Black mothers can openly discuss mental health challenges without fear of judgment or stigma.

We're particularly focused on developing culturally responsive mental health support pathways that acknowledge the unique experiences of Black mothers. By bridging the trust gap between healthcare systems and Black mothers through evidence-based interventions, we hope to transform how perinatal mental health services engage with and support Black mothers.

Our comprehensive approach will demonstrate impact across community engagement, healthcare provider education, policy influence, cultural competency enhancement, and peer support network development. Through this work, we aim to create lasting systemic change that improves the mental health outcomes for Black mothers across the UK.

What will be your areas of focus?

Through this project, we will conduct comprehensive research exploring multiple dimensions of Black maternal mental health:

• We will investigate the profound impact of pregnancy loss on mental health through our collaboration with Tommy's Miscarriage Support Tool, examining how we can better support Black mothers through these challenging experiences.
• Our partnership with South East London Mind will enable us to explore how creative expressions through music and art can serve as powerful therapeutic tools for Black mothers' mental wellbeing, providing alternative pathways for emotional healing and community connection.
• Through our Black Maternal Mental Health Week webinar series, we're creating platforms for open dialogue about mental health challenges specific to Black mothers, while our Black Maternal Health Conference outcomes provide crucial insights into systemic barriers and potential solutions.
• The Black Mums Connect co-production phase will ensure that our support services are directly shaped by the voices and experiences of Black mothers, while our Southwark Maternity Commission engagement allows us to influence policy at a local level.
• Our collaboration with Genomics England brings a vital scientific perspective to understanding maternal health disparities, and our training delivery with multiple NHS Perinatal Teams helps embed cultural competency directly into healthcare services.

The project aims to engage with 1,000 Black mothers and healthcare professionals across all programmes in its first year, demonstrating our commitment to substantial community impact.

Will you keep us posted on the outcomes and activity of the Black Maternal Mental Health Project?

Absolutely. Transparency and data-driven evaluation are central to our work. We will be documenting our journey and will have our report for Black Maternal Health Conference UK and Black Maternal Mental Health Week UK in September 2025. We're committed to sharing both quantitative metrics and qualitative feedback to demonstrate how our work is improving maternal health outcomes and patient safety for Black mothers.

If you would like to keep up to date with the work of the Motherhood Group, the Black Maternal Mental Health Project and details of their upcoming conferences, you can visit the following websites and social media pages:

X(Twitter): @motherhoodgroup

Instagram:
@sandeeigwe
@themotherhoodgroup

Websites:

Black Maternal Mental Health Project - The Motherhood Group - partnership page
www.themotherhoodgroup.org
www.sandraigwe.com

• Racial disparities in postnatal mental health: An interview with Sandra Igwe the Founder of The Motherhood Group
• My Black Motherhood: Mental Health, Stigma, Racism and the System (by Sandra Igwe)
• Saving lives, improving mothers’ care: Lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity 2020-22 (MBRRACE-UK, October 2024)
• Five X More report - The black maternity experiences survey: A nationwide study of black women's experiences of maternity services in the United Kingdom (24 May 2022)
• Muslim Women's Network UK - Maternity experiences of Muslim women from racialised minority communities (12 July 2022)

About the Author

Sandra Igwe authored the bestselling book "My Black Motherhood: Mental Health, Stigma, Racism and the System" (2022), which is now used as a training tool. She also served as Co-chair for the National Inquiry into Racial Injustice in Maternity Care, and Partner for the Mayor of London's Anti-Racism Hub. She has been recognised by Forbes as a Top Inspirational Woman UK and by Vogue magazine as Top Influential Woman.