Racism in maternity - report

[MagnoliaTaint]

www.bbc.com/news/health-61497923

Year-long enquiry into racism in maternity care has been published by Birthrights.

"We did hear positive examples of maternity care, but there is racism and racial discrimination at a structural and individual level which is putting black, brown and mixed ethnicity women at harm. There are many complex reasons for poorer health outcomes for ethnic minorities, and racism and discrimination is definitely playing a role."

The summary is here: www.birthrights.org.uk/campaigns-research/racial-injustice/

The executive summary is quite a distressing read, all the incidents of harm to women and babies that were totally avoidable. I remember when the MMBRACE report came out, so many comments on social media about how the disparity couldn't be due to racism and must just be to do with genetics or similar. Or just out and out minimising of the different outcomes based on ethnicity.

The recommendations are really clear and straightforward, I hope action can be taken immediately to make changes. But I fear that it will not be a priority for the current govt and that funding and political will to push through changes will be in short supply, sadly

I haven't read it all yet - just the first story alone shows jaw dropping ignorance from the medical profession . Racism is often difficult to prove - not in that case though

Commit to being an anti racist organisation- bit woolly to me, organisations already proudly proclaim this because they have a 10 minute e learning module on it once a year, intrigued to know how this will be carried out and how succsss of this will be measured.

Also furious that black women, such as myself, are needlessly dying at a rate of 4 x higher than white women- yet the documents feel the need to pander to a tiny tiny minority and state people as well as women. Fuck off, it's women. Women. Women. Women. Black women.

There's more detail on each pledge from pg 29 onwards, which is more specific and measurable. There may be more in the full report as well.

This is what is detailed for the commit to be an anti-racist organisation:

"1. Commit to be an anti-racist organisation •
Robust mandatory training on anti-racism and cultural safety for all staff, run at least annually

Clear standards on what constitutes racism and discrimination in the workplace and service provision

A clear pathway for reporting that ensures the safety of the person experiencing racism and encourages learning

Foster a feedback culture that does not blame the person experiencing racism and delivers a timely, proportionate response to the perpetrator that encourages accountability

Follow up on all reports of racism, ensuring some form of resolution has been achieved or action has been taken within a specific time frame to avoid unnecessary prolonged harm (4 weeks)

Organisation-wide racial equity action plan, with named people accountable for delivery at every level and annual tracking to monitor the impact of training and other actions on both workforce and care provision [metrics could include staff wellbeing and retention, improved outcomes and fewer complaints]"

But... will the NHS be instructed to commit to measures like this? And be given the funding to implement it? That's the vital point that only the govt can address here. I will be writing to my MP to ask just that.

Those things should be in place for any patient who complains really, I don't think prioritising black women to tick a box is progressive either. The only way to truly tackle it is to include black bodies in training materials (I know this is addressed which is good), and to try and address and make fundamental changes on a societal level as to the ingrained prejudices people carry which in the case of some HCPs does extend to their work. Not easy though and I don't have the solution, but those propositions are just a corporate bandage of throwing money at the issue and hoping it magically cures it via paperwork and processes.

For some balance I had excellent care during pregnancy and labour- i was listened to and felt safe which I know is sadly an absolute privilege which I don't take for granted and should be the case across the board for every woman, including black women, but shows it can be done. There were some considerations unique to me- small things that were acknowledged so I hope some don't see this as right must treat everyone the same regardless as this will be to the default which is white women. Many white women also have terrible care which without clouding the issue makes it so important to remember its 2 pronged- racism and rooted in the misogyny; a really challenging combo to counteract but we must.

Anyway rambling and might not make sense but yes hopefully it's the start of positive changes but sadly it'll only ever be part of the puzzle whilst other things aren't addressed.

The only way to truly tackle it is ... to try and address and make fundamental changes on a societal level

Yes, this is the thing, I think. Obviously structural issues in organisations need to be addressed, but wider social issues are not going to go away by themselves, either.

I would imagine creating space for more dialogue in society generally would be a good way to make a start. I think some of the current situation is exacerbated by silos and social media and 'social justice' mechanisms for silencing and censoring some ideas/thoughts/people. We need to foster dialogue, not try to control it.