Summary
Black women in England face disproportionately poor outcomes in maternity care, shaped by systemic failings in leadership, training, data collection and accountability, according to a new report from the Health and Social Care Committee, Black Maternal Health.
The inquiry heard repeatedly that racism is ‘one of the core drivers’ of poor maternal outcomes for Black women, as MPs heard from clinical experts and women about cases where racist assumptions had directly harmed Black women’s care. Black women are 2.3 times more likely to die in pregnancy, childbirth, or the postnatal period than White women, according to recent figures.
The report acknowledges that failings in care for Black women are taking place in the context of a maternity system that is failing women more broadly, with the NHS in England having paid £27.4 billion in maternity negligence since 2019, estimated at, a figure greater than the total maternity budget for the same period.
Given those outcomes, the Committee says it is ‘indefensible’ that cultural competency training is optional for NHS staff and leaders working in maternity services, including midwives. The report urges the Department for Health and Social Care to work with the NHS, the Royal College of Midwives and the Nursing and Midwifery Council to introduce mandatory cultural competency training for all midwives, which they say should be informed directly by the experience of Black women.
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