This week is the seventh annual Black Maternal Health Awareness Week, led by Five X More. This year’s theme is ‘Leading with Solutions, Not Trauma,’ and each day highlights key topics including clinical signs, awareness-raising, and positive experiences.
There are still stark differences in maternity care for pregnant mothers and birthing people. Most babies are born safely, but Black women in the UK are more likely to face health problems, poorer care, and to experience difficulty in having their concerns acknowledged during pregnancy, birth, and after their baby is born.
Some key facts:
- Black women are still 2.3 times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth and six weeks after birth in the UK (MBRRACE-UK 2025)
- Five X More’s Black Maternity Experiences Report 2025 surveyed over a thousand Black and Black mixed-heritage women across the UK who had been pregnant between July 2021 and March 2025. They found:
- 45% of those surveyed raised concerns during labour, but nearly half felt that their concerns were not properly addressed
- 23% did not receive the pain relief they asked for, and many were given no explanation as to why
- 28% reported discrimination. For many, this was linked to race.
- Last year’s Health and Social Care Committee Black Maternal Health Session reported that racism is one of the “core drivers” of poor maternal outcomes for Black women.
Leading with Solutions
Evidence shows that racism in maternity care is not driven by a lack of commitment among individual staff, but by workforce cultures, training gaps and leadership failures that allow bias and discriminatory behaviours to persist unchecked.
At Baby Lifeline, our mission is to make care better and safer for every pregnant woman, birthing person, and newborn baby. We provide lifesaving equipment, carry out research, and deliver training for maternity staff. Our training helps healthcare professionals recognise bias, listen to and act on women’s concerns, communicate clearly, and give respectful care to families from all backgrounds.
We asked Sandra Igwe MBE, Founder & Chief Executive of The Motherhood Group, and member of Baby Lifeline’s Family Voices Group, to share her reflections on how care can be safer and fairer.
Sandra’s key points include:
- Challenging harmful stereotypes is a key part of safer care. Recognising and addressing myths such as the “Strong Black Woman” stereotype helps ensure symptoms are taken seriously, pain is treated properly, and concerns are escalated when needed.
- Lived experience should shape better care. Listening to Black women’s experiences and using them to inform training, service design, and decision-making helps services respond to real needs.
- Improving care across the whole maternity journey is essential. Earlier recognition of conditions such as pre-eclampsia, postpartum haemorrhage, infection, heart problems, and mental health needs can reduce risk. Clear communication and consistent action make a critical difference at every stage.
- Better postnatal support keeps families safe. The weeks after birth matter, and longer, more meaningful follow-up helps ensure concerns are identified and addressed, especially for families with fewer support networks or culturally appropriate care.
- Supporting families to speak up improves safety. When women and birthing people have clear information and feel confident asking questions, then concerns are more likely to be acted on quickly.
- Healthcare professionals are central to change. Care that listens without assumptions, follows escalation pathways, and responds with urgency helps build trust and improve outcomes.
- Black Maternal Health Awareness Week turns understanding into action. It supports learning, accountability, and practical steps that help maternity services deliver safer, fairer care for Black women – and, in doing so, improves care for everyone.
For Baby Lifeline, Black Maternal Health Awareness Week reinforces that equity, safety, and learning are inseparable.
We offer many training courses for healthcare professionals such as our Cultural Curiosity and Safety Workshop that emphasise the importance of culturally curious, inclusive care, clear and equitable communication skills.
We also provide training specifically in Working with Language Barriers in Healthcare and Building Informed Care to Support Migrant, Refugee, and Asylum-Seeking Women. Our clinical training courses also include information and resources that aid the recognition of clinical signs in women and babies with Black or Brown skin.
When maternity services are designed to listen better, escalate sooner, and act without bias, care becomes safer not just for Black women, but for everyone. We are proud to be part of the solution.