NHS Maternity Care Under Review: Disparities Affecting Black Mothers in England

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The information provided in this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. If you have questions about your health, speak to your GP or specialist.

Last week, the Government named 14 NHS hospitals in England that will be subject to an investigation into failings in maternal and neonatal care resulting in adverse avoidable harm and death of women and newborn children. It follows an announcement in June where initially only 10 NHS hospitals in England were to be investigated in order to provide truth and accountability for impacted families and drive urgent improvements to care and safety, addressing systemic problems.

This investigation is announced on a backdrop of well established disparities in maternal outcomes affecting black women. The landmark report called Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audit and Confidential Enquiries UK (MBRRACE-UK) 2019 report found that Black women in the UK were fives times and Asian women were three times more likely to die during pregnancy, birth, or the year after childbirth compared to white women. These tragic disparities are not explained by genetics or individual health alone, but by deep-rooted systemic failings in maternity care.

For Black women, the 2019 report pointed to institutional racism, including racial bias in clinical decision-making, dismissal of Black women’s concerns, and poor communication between healthcare professionals and patients. Many Black women reported not being listened to or taken seriously, even when presenting with clear symptoms.

Combined with wider social and economic inequalities, these factors contribute to an urgent and unacceptable pattern of inequality in maternal outcomes in the NHS. However, it is important to note when adjusting for other risk factors, including deprivation, had a minimal effect on the impact of ethnicity on increased risk of stillbirth, preterm birth and foetal growth restriction (Source).

What has the NHS done to reduce maternal harms to Black women?

Since 2019, the NHS has taken steps to improve maternity care and reduce the risks faced by Black women, who are significantly more likely to die during pregnancy or after birth. A Maternity Disparities Taskforce was created to focus on why women from ethnic minority backgrounds experience worse outcomes. The NHS also launched a Three-Year Maternity Plan in 2023, aiming to make care safer, more personalised and more equal.

Local NHS teams must now publish Equity and Equality Action Plans, and there’s a push to provide continuity of midwifery care, so women are supported by the same team throughout pregnancy. Efforts also include hiring more midwives, improving training around unconscious bias and cultural awareness, and using new tools to help spot complications early. While progress is ongoing, these actions mark an important shift towards safer, more respectful care for Black mothers across England.

What has changed for Black women’s experience during pregnancy and childbirth?

In the latest, MBRRACE-UK 2025, it report shows that Black women were now reportedly 2.3 times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth and 1 year birth. Whilst efforts have been made to close the gap, there voices behind the numbers  FivexMore, a charitable health organisation setup by Clo and Tinuke who ran their own respective support groups to support ethnic minority women during and after pregnancy. After sharing experiences among themselves, they noticed that a lot more women, more than thought were experiencing poor, harmful and uncompassionate care. Earlier this year, FivexMore released the UK’s largest report into Black Maternity Experiences (Source).

I had an emergency c-section and had to constantly call the nurses to give me adequate pain relief…I was in excruciating pain and also was sick for 13 hours and received more support from other mothers and their partners on their ward than from the midwives…I was treated really poorly…There were a few lovely nurses I came across who were kind, empathetic and helpful but unfortunately, the majority were not.

(F541, Black British Caribbean, aged 26-35, FivexMore Black Maternal Experiences Report 2025)

It’s not just the physical risks Black women face during pregnancy and childbirth — the psychological toll is just as serious, and often overlooked. Last week, Black Maternal Mental Health Report UK (BMMHUK), published by The Motherhood Group, shed vital light on this issue. It’s one of the first reports in the UK to centre Black mothers’ real-life experiences of perinatal mental health through the lens of structural racism and inequality. The findings are deeply concerning: Black mothers are more than twice as likely to be hospitalised for mental illness during and after pregnancy. Yet many Black women still avoid seeking help often out of fear of being judged, dismissed, or reported to social services.

The report exposes systemic issues within the NHS, including a lack of culturally safe care, harmful stereotypes, and a shortage of support options that reflect and respect Black women’s realities. Its recommendations are clear: we need anti-racist, community-led solutions, tailored mental health care pathways, and real investment in spaces where Black mothers feel seen, safe, and supported.

What about Black newborn experiences?

Black women in the UK face significantly higher rates of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, being up to six times more likely to experience serious complications (Source) which often impact both mother and baby.  Around 700,000 babies are born every year in the UK, and around 3,500 of these babies die before, Among all the ethnic groups, Black babies have the highest rate of stillbirths and deaths in the first 28 days after birth (Source).

Furthermore, a 2023 report from the NHS Health Race Observatory found that signs of serious health issues in newborn babies like jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes) and cyanosis (a bluish/purple tint that can signal low oxygen) — are often missed in Black, Asian and minority ethnic babies. This is because the tools and training used in many hospitals were developed based on how symptoms appear on white babies, making it harder to spot these signs on darker skin tones. For example, healthcare staff might look for a baby turning “blue” or “pale,” which doesn’t show the same way on Black or brown skin.

The statistics are stark and experiences of Black women and their babies during pregnancy, childbirth and  afterbirth are harrowing. It is unjust, whilst there have been improvements more can be done. Put simply,

Fix it for Black women, fix it for all

(FivexMore)

The overall message is clear: every woman deserves safe, respectful, and high-quality care, no matter her background, and action must be taken now to close the gap in outcomes.

Why is a national investigation happening now?

The national maternity and neonatal investigation was launched in response to growing evidence that too many women and babies, particularly from ethnic minority backgrounds, have been exposed to unsafe care in NHS hospitals across England. For years, separate investigations into individual trusts revealed repeated and deeply troubling issues: leadership failures, staff ignoring safety warnings, women not being listened to, and a lack of transparency when things went wrong. Despite these warnings, similar mistakes kept happening in different parts of the country.

The government has now identified 14 NHS trusts with concerning outcomes, such as high rates of baby deaths, stillbirths, and serious harm, along with poor patient feedback. This investigation aims to go beyond isolated incidents and uncover the deeper, systemic reasons why these failings continue. It will centre the voices of affected families, many of whom have been fighting for answers for years, and ensure their experiences drive change. Ultimately, the goal is to make maternity and neonatal care safer, more compassionate, and more equitable for every woman, baby, and family, regardless of background or postcode.

What hospitals will be investigated?

The government currently will be investigating the following:

  • Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust
  • East Kent Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust
  • Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust
  • Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Oxford University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
  • The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
  • The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust
  • University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
  • University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
  • University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
  • Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

It cannot yet be reliably determined using publicly available data how many Black women and newborns receive maternal and neonatal care in the listed hospitals. The catchment area for a hospital is not defined in a consistent way. Whilst Census and Office of National Statistics data is available by local borough footprints not by hospital catchment area.

What are the implications for Black women and Black newborns?

Alongside, the national investigation, there is ongoing parliamentary pressure to take action to improve Black Maternal Health Outcomes. On 17th September 2025, published a House of Commons committee published the third Black Maternal Health and have given the Government two months to respond. The report outlines clear actions the government and NHS must take to make maternity care safer and fairer for women from ethnic minority backgrounds. Key recommendations include better training for NHS staff to recognise and address racism, more diverse and inclusive leadership across the health system, and safer staffing levels in maternity units. It also calls for proper recording of ethnicity in health data so inequalities can be identified and addressed, and for maternity services to receive the funding they need particularly in areas serving diverse communities.

What can you do if you are concerned about your care or the care of a pregnant Black woman?

If you have experienced or currently concerned with the quality of your care, you can follow the NHS feedback and complaints process. If you have been impacted by any of the content in this blog, please discuss it with your GP, midwife or obstetrician. For more information about, help or how to get involved, visit:

The information provided in this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. If you have questions about your health, speak to your GP or specialist.

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