NHS must do more to track and evaluate race inequalities in maternal health, says report

Maternal policies developed by NHS bodies should target minority ethnic health inequalities and a national system for tracking progress should be established, a report1 has recommended.In the UK, black women are four times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth compared with white women, while women from Asian backgrounds face twice the risk of maternal mortality.Yet research from the NHS Race and Health Observatory, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Warwick found that few maternal policies developed by hospital trusts and other providers have a specific focus on tackling ethnic health inequalities across maternity care, while examples of good practice are often not shared across the system.The report calls for a central data repository to be set up to collect evidence and monitor improvements in reducing poor outcomes in maternal and neonatal healthcare for women from ethnic minorities.Daghni Rajasingam, consultant obstetrician and deputy chair of the NHS…
Read Original Article: NHS must do more to track and evaluate race inequalities in maternal health, says report »