We live in a country where maternal deaths are rare and women’s experience of maternity care is generally positive.
However, around 1,000 babies are still lost to pre-eclampsia every year in the UK. That figure remains too high and it is concerning that black women are about three times more likely to develop pre-eclampsia than white women.
I have lived with high blood pressure for more than eight years now and was hypertensive in each of my three pregnancies. I understand and have experienced the anxieties many pregnant women have.
The support I received from my consultants was superb and in fact my baby’s life was saved by attending my 20 week check-up: during my examination it was observed I was going into early labour.
But I am acutely aware that experiences will differ from woman to woman, depending on the types of treatment they receive and services they use. Which is why we need to make sure that people don’t feel ignored if they have suggestions for improvement.
That’s why the Government has launched a call for evidence to better understand women’s experiences of the health and care system.
We want to hear from women of every background, and so today I am reaching out to ethnic minority women in particular and asking you to share your experiences. Your input will help shape a new Women’s Health Strategy to ensure all health services are meeting the needs of women. This strategy will be developed by the Department for Health and Social Care, but led by the opinions of those who use the NHS — ensuring that the system is as helpful as possible.
It has been fantastic to see the NHS take decisive action during the pandemic, with the Chief Midwifery Officer writing to all maternity units in the country calling on them to minimise the risk of Covid-19 to ethnic minority mothers and their babies.
We now need you to tell us if the steps that the Government and the NHS are taking are working.
We want women of every age, ethnicity and sexuality, and from every walk of life, to respond to our call for evidence so we can develop an ambitious strategy which puts their views at the heart of our action.
Kemi Badenoch is minister for equalities
This article was originally published in The Standard, 25 March 2021
