Key Summary
- The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has launched a new programme to make anti-racism and bias awareness explicit in university curricula by the next academic year.
- Data confirms that Black and Asian women, as well as those from mixed ethnic backgrounds, face significantly higher risks of death during and after pregnancy compared to white women.
- Government officials and healthcare leaders have labeled the crisis a "national emergency," citing structural barriers and bias as key factors compounding poor health outcomes.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has warned of a "national emergency" of racism in maternity care and has launched new education tools for universities to stamp out bias.
Figures from the MBRRACE programme show that pregnant Black and Asian mothers are more likely to die during childbirth, or the immediate postnatal period, compared to white women.
Between 2021 and 2023, 257 women died during or up to six weeks after pregnancy among 2,004,184 women giving birth in the UK.
It was revealed that an average death rate of 12.82 women occur for every 100,000 giving birth.
Among black women this figure was 28.21 per 100,000 women giving birth. This includes deaths from blood clots and heart disease.
Among Asian women the maternal mortality rate was 16.74 per 100,000 women giving birth.
Maternal mortality rates amongst women from mixed ethnic backgrounds were almost two-fold higher compared to white women, according to the report.
A separate MBRRACE report highlights how babies of black ethnicity were more than twice as likely to be stillborn than white babies in 2023.
NMC said racism within maternity services "compounds the problem" as it launched a new programme.
Though equity, diversity and inclusion is present in all midwifery education programmes, the regulator said it will work with all universities offering midwifery education to make anti-racism, bias awareness and cultural curiosity, safety and respect “more explicit” in their curricula.
It will be implemented by the start of the next academic year.
Paul Rees, NMC chief executive and registrar, said: “The situation is totally unacceptable and is a national emergency.
“To help tackle the black maternal health crisis we’re calling on our education partners to embed the new principles which will enable us to embed anti-racism, bias awareness and cultural curiosity, safety and respect across all midwifery education in the four countries of the UK.”
Public health minister Sharon Hodgson added: “The stark disparities in outcomes for black and Asian mothers and babies are unacceptable, and tackling them is a priority for this Government.”
