Sara Ledger
Head of Research and Development, Baby Lifeline
Ahead of the election on Thursday, a group of experts at Imperial College in London have rated the leading parties’ manifestos and their implications for Women’s Health against 15 key priorities. What the analysis shows is that progress still needs to be made on prioritising Women’s Health in policy and in the highest seats of power. This is despite media spotlight on and inquiries into the safety of maternity care, and campaigning by charities and Women’s Health groups.
The group has called on the next government to build on “previous efforts in Women’s Health to strengthen existing infrastructure, collaboration and innovation”.
Party Manifestos, Women, and the Pregnant Population
- When scored against the 15 key priorities for Women’s Health, no party manifestos scored more than 10/30 (Labour and the Liberal Democrats).
- The Conservatives, Green Party, and Plaid Cymru scored just over 8/30.
- The lowest scores were within the SNP (6.5/30), DUP (2.5/30), and Reform (0.67/30) manifestos.
- Two issues leading to inequalities for women in healthcare and treatment – the inclusion of women in clinical research and trials, and optimising health before pregnancy – did not feature in any manifestos.
- Policies were not routinely built in consultation with women.
- Encouragingly, almost all of the parties’ manifestos included safe staffing levels in maternity units, midwifery retention and recruitment.
- Only two parties included a commitment to tackling maternity inequalities, particularly for Black and Asian women. We know, and have known for decades, that these women and their babies are more at risk of dying and having poor care during pregnancy, labour, and postnatally.
- Only two parties included the need to improve postnatal care and support, despite recent reports looking at maternal deaths showing that most women (86%) died in the postnatal period.
- Childcare and women returning to work after pregnancy and violence against women and girls were addressed by most parties.
There have been huge shifts in the political conversation around Women’s Health over the last few years, with the first Women’s Health Strategy for England being published in 2022, and the expert team have called for the next government to prioritise the implementation of that strategy.
The group of Women’s Health experts have recommended that party manifestos and policy would benefit from public and expert input. This is a mandated requirement for UK healthcare or research applying for funding, and should be a matter of practice when deciding national policy.
Baby Lifeline will continue its work on using its own knowledge to brief the new government on matters impacting safer and better maternity care.