Black Maternal Mental Health Report - The Motherhood Group

[IwantToRetire]

Black Maternal Mental Health Report - The Motherhood Group Leads Groundbreaking Study into Black Women’s Mental Health in the UK

The Motherhood Group has launched a landmark report on Black maternal mental health in the United Kingdom, shining a light on the urgent need for safe spaces, culturally competent peer support, digital access, and community-driven, anti-racist solutions.

This report centres the lived experiences of Black mothers and highlights systemic barriers to quality, affordable mental healthcare. The report was supported with the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) and the Centre for Mental Health.

By leading this research, The Motherhood Group places Black mothers’ voices at the forefront of national conversations, providing policy-makers, health services, and communities with the insights needed to drive meaningful change

Continues at https://themotherhoodgroup.org/black-maternal-mental-health-project/

This was launched today so thought I would post link!

Some actual woman centred stuff on here!

Interesting!

The very best of luck to them. I hope their campaign brings meaningful change for black mothers.

Great report, it’s long but there are some v good summary sections near the end. It really does feel like they’ve consulted with and asked a lot of women. I hope the report is used well - would be good to know if anyone working in healthcare settings sees it being shared there.

A great report and much needed. I hope every NHS EDI person sees this as a spur to action.

Good to see this happening. And hopefully the govt are just about to get started on all that womens health work to improve things ...

It wont let me see anything unless I download the whole report, havent time to read anything long so a bit frustrating.

You dont have to download it, you can read it online.

And if you use the option to move a page at a time you will see the overview if from page 53 - 58.

When I started this I had hope to link to other threads there has been on FWR, but as usual the MN searach engine failed to find them. (they do exist as I know I started one)

But it just seems every year there is a report, and nothing seems to improve.

Or if it is it is very slow and minimal

Which is really sad, but nothing like how disrespectful it is of those running health systems that they just dont seem to be listening.

Maybe it’s a sign of how cut to the bone the NHS is, but it is more than disappointing that this is still the case and doesn’t seem to be improving.

Use Google to search MN. Just add your search terms plus Mumsnet. Far better results than MN's search function.

Dating back to 2019:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/3642813-Womans-Hour-Black-women-are-5x-more-likely-to-die-in-childbirth-than-white-women

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/3939453-Black-women-in-the-UK-5-times-more-likely-to-die-in-childbirth-or-after-pregnancy

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4229935-Miscarriage-rates-40-higher-in-black-women

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4554911-racism-in-maternity-report

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4787833-womans-hour-today

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5379968-half-of-black-women-in-uk-who-raise-concerns-during-labour-did-not-receive-suitable-help

And a MN Guest post in 2021 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/guest_posts/4206494-Guest-post-Black-women-are-four-times-more-likely-than-white-women-to-suffer-a-maternal-death-Practical-steps-for-safeguarding-your-rights-in-maternity-care

Looking at it on a different device I realised there was an x I could click to remove the annoying pop up and actually read the report. I'm not working in this area so while I may read the whole thing sometime I'm not going to do so when I'm busy with other things. The report is about maternal mental health so is short on specific recommendations. Not having an executive summary at the start or very specific recommendations is why some change only happens slowly.

So - one thing that would be easy to do something about is literature not including enough images of black people. I imagine some antenatal clinics may do specific leaflets but does that make people feel "othered" so is that problematic? My immediate reaction was to check if mumsnet has enough images of black people. There are some but I suspect it could do a bit better. Should it have a separate section on maternity care for black mumsnetters - maybe it should ask them?

Next - pregnant black women have specific concerns about the higher maternal mortality. The difference has actually dropped a lot so clearly there have been actions that have worked. Has the drop actually been publicised enough? What has worked? https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/data-brief/maternal-mortality-2021-2023

Third - encourage more feedback about what was difficult. If you were not listened to complain about it. If you cant get to the antenatal clinics why not? What would have made it easier for you to do so? One appropriate use for DEI jobs in hospital would be talking to black women and advocating for them. This is where peer support could really have an impact quite quickly. Why are DEI jobs now all about the trans?

Should it have a separate section on maternity care for black mumsnetters

I think you should check out the existing forums on mumsnet.

FWR isn't necessarily where Black Women would come to discuss this issue or any other one.

But as a feminist thread it is important that feminists are aware of publications like this.

Although as I showed with the list of links, this has been raised as an issue since at least 2019.

So it isn't as though it hasn't been raised as an issue, and even the main stream has reported on the negative data about the care given to Black women.

So surely the quesion is why service providers aren't listening.

The gap in outcomes on maternal mortality has considerably reduced - that suggests service providers have not only been listening but have taken effective action on that issue.

I am aware of the different fora - that was not my question, It was whether this website needs a separate section for advice. Many people will visit the site for information and not to participate in a forum chat.

Black Maternal Mental Health Report highlights why supporting mothers’ well-being is essential for healthy families. For related resources, you can also visit ayushmancard-download.online/ this helpful guide .