Today it was revealed that BAME women have felt ‘stereotyped and gaslit’ according to reports from several NHS trusts across the country. Analysis has shown a racial gap in maternity care, missing medical records and female patients feel they ‘are not being listened to’.
Baroness Gohir stood in the House of Lords today to ask the government about their commitment to improving the quality of medical care for women and expectant mothers, with a focus on Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups (BAME). The Baroness described ‘appalling inequalities’ and stressed the need to ‘closing Black and Asian mortality gaps, initiatives to improve continuity of care’. It was suggested that the current government appoints a dedicated maternity commissioner alongside a greater emphasis on staffing and training within the NHS.
Research from baby loss charity SANDS has suggested that Black expectant mothers have been ‘stereotyped as feisty and dramatic’ and Asian parents have been called ‘too anxious’. One parent claimed their medical notes had been lost and they were ‘gaslit’ by NHS staff.
The maternity landscape was described today as ‘crowded’, and issues facing the NHS were not limited to patients, as reports of staff experiencing racism were described to the Lords. It was noted that staff who treated patients with racism were ‘the minority’ and that a cross government consolidation would be needed to tackle long standing issues within the health service.
The Conservative government appointed a women’s health ambassador and Baroness Gohir pledged to continue the work of the previous government in order to provide training and enforce a greater understanding of women’s health. The Lords agreed that women in particular are ‘not being listened to about their own bodies, and that if medics do not listen to patients they will not get it right. Women are the experts of their own bodies.’
Investigations into hereditary disorders have shown that those predisposed to sickle cell disorder are more likely to be from a BAME background, and patrons of the sickle cell society have called for specialist midwives after reports of ‘discrimination’.
Causes for higher mortality rates in BAME women included ‘socio-economic factors’ alongside discrimination. The Lords said they were ‘moved’ by the personal stories of women, and in order to tackle long standing issues ‘leadership from the top is needed’.
Data from 2016-2018 suggested that women from Asian, Black or mixed race backgrounds have an elevated risk of maternal death compared to women from White backgrounds and Among Black women, the central estimate of the risk of maternal death is more than four times higher than for white women. Recently studies have also unveiled that stillbirth rates are also higher for Black and Asian Babies.
On the back of these findings, in 2021 the government responded by saying: ‘Current plans to reduce inequalities are set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, we aim to tackle maternal mortality inequality through the introduction of an enhanced continuity of carer model.
‘By 2024, 75% of women from BAME communities and other vulnerable women will receive continuity of care from their midwife.’
