Racial inequalities in maternal outcomes

Posted: 01/07/2025

It is now more than four years since the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists launched its Racial Equality Taskforce to improve racial inequalities in maternal health outcomes. This followed data from the MMBRACE report on maternal deaths and morbidity which showed that between 2016 and 2018, black women were 4.4 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than white women. Women of mixed ethnicity, and those from Asian ethnic backgrounds, are respectively 3.2 and 1.9 times more likely to die than white women.

In launching a national investigation into maternity care in England, Health Secretary Wes Streeting noted that despite previous government initiatives, inequalities in maternal and neonatal outcomes have become 'more visible, not less', and that 'babies of black ethnicity are twice as likely to be stillborn than babies of white ethnicity, and black women are still two to three times more likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after birth than white women'.

It might look as though the gap in outcomes has narrowed, with outcomes for ethnic minority women improving, but according to Mr Streeting this is not the case: 'Tragically, that gap is closing slightly, but partly because more white women are dying in childbirth'.

Elizabeth Maloney, associate in Penningtons Manches Cooper’s clinical negligence team, commented: “We see the devastating consequences when maternity care is poor or negligent. With the quality of maternity care at so many hospital trusts under the spotlight, the national investigation is welcomed. We hope that it leads to the necessary changes in maternity services across the country for all women regardless of their ethnic background.”

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