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An inquiry into racial injustice in maternity care is gathering shocking evidence from new parents about their experience of pregnancy, birth and postnatal care in the UK. Hannah Summers reports
It has been repeatedly shown that Black, Asian and mixed ethnicity women are more likely to die, experience baby loss or become seriously unwell during pregnancy and childbirth compared to white women experiencing maternity care. Data published earlier this year by MBRRACE-UK shows Black women are four times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy or childbirth in the UK while women from Asian ethnic backgrounds face twice the risk.
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A national inquiry into racial injustice in maternity care is meeting on Tuesday to launch a call for evidence.
Supported by the charity Birthrights, the inquiry will examine how racial injustice is leading to poorer health outcomes for mothers and babies in ethnic minority groups.
It follows a January report from MBRRACE-UK, which examines deaths among pregnant women, new mothers and babies, which found maternal death rates among women from black ethnic backgrounds were more than four times higher, and among women from Asian ethnic backgrounds were two times higher, than for white women.
Sun 7 Feb 2021 05.30 EST
An urgent inquiry to investigate how alleged systemic racism in the NHS manifests itself in maternity care will be launched on Tuesday with support from the UK charity Birthrights.
The inquiry will apply a human- rights lens to examine how claimed racial injustice – from explicit racism to bias – is leading to poorer health outcomes in maternity care for ethnic minority groups.
Data published last month by MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the country) showed black women were four times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy or childbirth in the UK while women from Asian ethnic backgrounds face twice the risk.
Published Thursday, January 14, 2021 6:33AM EST (CNN) When pharmacist Ifeoma Onwuka, known to her friends as Laura, went into hospital to have her daughter, she and her husband hoped the delivery would go smoothly, and that they would soon be able to take their new arrival home to meet her siblings. Onwuka s labor was induced at James Paget University Hospital in Great Yarmouth in the UK, about 140 miles northeast of London, in late April 2018. Things progressed quickly and there were soon signs that her baby was in distress, causing staff to begin preparations for an emergency Caesarian section, but Onwuka s daughter was born in the recovery room.