Inquiry finds widespread racism in maternity care

[Clymene]

This is absolutely shocking - racial stereotyping and not listening to women putting them and their babies at significant risk

"I was repeatedly ignored" - report finds maternity racism www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61497923

I heard a couple of the women interviewed talking on the radio just now.

Wow that is a shocking read. I can't get me head around what the colour of your skin has to do with pain tolerance, what a bizarre perspective

Black women are more than four times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than white women in the UK, while women from Asian backgrounds face almost twice the risk.

That's a disgraceful statistic. Shameful.

It shouldn’t be a shock to learn this. It’s been known for quite some time now.

For a long time known by women and families in the receiving end. And backed up with research and stats in recent years.

Sad, terrible, wrong. But not shocking.

Did you know also that white women with black or brown partners also have a higher maternal and infant mortality rate in the UK, compared with white women who have white partners?

And still our government inquiry has managed to conclude that the UK does not have a problem with systemic racism…

Sadly this isn’t anything new, it has been known for years that Black people are facing racism even from medical professionals.

Black women get the double whammy of having to deal with racism and misogyny combined, misogynoir causes them to face much more risk of getting the wrong treatment with often devastating consequences.

I knew maternal death rates were much higher @Gadzookerykookery but I didn't know why. This study goes a long way to explaining that.

And I didn't know that about white women with black or brown partners either.

God this country appals me

This. Black and brown people have been talking about the racism they face in this Country and how it affects every aspect of their lives, from being in the education system and onwards. When are people really going to listen? This is nothing new.

I have heard of black and brown women talking about this obviously but more coverage in the MSM is always a good thing.

Or do you think it's just going to continue to fall on deaf ears?

With all three of my labours, I wasn't given any pain relief. I had to beg for it during my first two births, and even then, I was only ever given gas and air.

Fuppin hell, that is sinful.

Along with racism, there are other cultural factors involved. Black and Asian women are more likely to have close family networks that they go to first for advice, rather than medical professionals. There is a much greater degree of chromosomal abnormalities due to close family members having children within sections of some Asian communities. It's a multi-faceted problem that needs to be addressed as such.

More evidence added to the piles and piles of incontrovertible evidence of systemic racism in the UK.

When the UK government is still complicit in the status quo there’s not going to be a some fresh awakening on the level that will bring real change.

In 2016, almost ½ of white medical students believed that Black people had thicker skin and a higher pain tolerance threshold.

Yes, you read that right. ½ of them believed this entirely untrue and seriously harmful trope.

The origin of this trope goes way back to narratives that allowed the slave trade to flourish and bring generational wealth to the UK.

This is harming black and brown women and babies now. Actually causing their deaths.

All maternal and infant deaths have multi-faceted causes, but don’t let the narratives of cultural difference distract you or excuse this.

When all other factors are allowed for (housing, economic, genetic….) the maternal and infant death rates are higher for Black women than for any other group.

There are wider issues at play than simply attitudes of maternity staff. Certainly I think it is failing BAME women, but it also fails the white majority. It's a failing service.

I totally agree attitudes to black women being more able to cope with pain is disgraceful and incorrect, but in my experience midwives and doctors seem to think all pregnant women are lacking in intelligence and insight into their bodies.

Apologies to all the midwives and doctors who do a good job, but there are far too many in positions of power who call the shots in maternity services

Whilst there are many midwives and gynae consultants who are excellent, it has to be considered that it is a profession that will appeal to misogynists and racists. Dealing with women at their most vulnerable will be too tempting to avoid.
My one and only labour was horrific.

It is outrageous that this is happening, but until racism is really dealt with, nothing will change. Gadzookerykookery is explaining it much more eloquently than I can.

I’m Asian. When I had DD1, the white midwife asked my husband whether his wife had a low pain tolerance. DH firmly said no. He also reassured me that my reaction to childbirth was normal and we agreed that I hadn’t made an undue amount of ‘fuss’, whatever that might be. I felt very embarrassed at having caused such trouble. But I never swore etc.

With DD2, they didn’t give me pain killers, and it took about 48 hours afterwards for my body to stop shaking with shock.

I appreciate that these aren’t major incidents and that all women, white or not, can be subject to poor treatment. But it has made me think.

I am not denying that racism may be part of the explanation for the higher morbidity and mortality among black and Asian women and babies in the UK, but there are other factors such as the high rate of consanguineous marriage between Pakistanis (usually first cousins), leading to higher rates of lethal genetic defects, and the higher risks of obesity and diabetes in South Asians, higher levels of a) twin pregnancy and b) sickle cell problems in Africans, and a degree of failure to engage with antenatal care in women who do not speak English, and who may be dissuaded by partners from consulting male doctors, or rely on advice from other women in their own community.

Agree with all of this!
Also pp who mentioned black women will be dealing with the combination of misogyny AND racism.

I am Asian, but my parents aren’t cousins, and neither are my husband and I. I don’t have a close family whom I consult before going to the doctor. I engaged with all ante natal care. My husband doesn’t object to me seeing a male doctor (as if!). I am as English as any white person. English is my first language. I don’t have obesity or diabetes.

I think most of the women included in this report would be in the same position as me. So the poor treatment cannot be justified.

Interestingly, my sister had better birth experiences, but she has a white husband (mine is black) which may have helped?

But we're not just talking about higher mortality @Babdoc - the women in the report talk about repeated disgraceful racist attitudes which didn't lead to their deaths but subjected them to appalling care and neglect.

I honestly don't know what to say about that stat @Gadzookerykookery. It's terrifying.

It’s not only Asian and Black women who prefer female doctors, I’m white and I do not want a strange man - medical professional or not - touching the private parts of my body if I can avoid it and get a female doctor treat me instead. Surely there are many women of color who feel the same as me and aren’t pressured into this by their husbands.

I totally agree attitudes to black women being more able to cope with pain is disgraceful and incorrect, but in my experience midwives and doctors seem to think all pregnant women are lacking in intelligence and insight into their bodies…

Read that back, and then read again that Black women are 4-5 more likely to die in childbirth, in the UK, right now., after all other factors are taken into account.

All women are subject to misogyny. Racism is the added factor that leads to the increase in mortality, and it’s the increased bit that’s being discussed here.

I am not denying that racism may be part of the explanation for the higher morbidity and mortality among black and Asian women and babies in the UK, but there are other factors such as….

Again… research consistently finds, and has found for a long time now, that the mortality rates differ based on race alone, after all other factors are accounted for.

Being treated differently, less civilly, can be hard to evidence in an unarguable way. Death is not hard to evidence. It’s indisputable.

When the disparity in mortality is this high, think for a moment how severe and harmful the disparity in treatment as humans, mothers and patients must be.

I'm appalled but not surprised by this. My black sister in law developed pre-eclampsia prior to labour (undiagnosed) and after delivery was rushed to HDU. She recovered, but was very seriously ill for a while. Nothing remotely comparable occurred to my very many white friends who are mothers.