The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) this week has used the TUC Women’s Conference as another opportunity to call on the Government to do more to improve the unacceptable maternity outcomes faced by Black and Asian women.

Delivering its decolonising midwifery practice and education motion today the RCM called on the TUC to join with them in campaigning for ringfenced investment for NHS interpreting and translating services.

The RCM says report after report has highlighted the inadequate provision and availability of independent interpreting services for women for whom English isn’t their primary language and the tragic impact that can have on their maternity outcomes.

This, the College says, is just one small part of a broad range of issues that need to be addressed urgently if the Westminster Government is truly to effect change when it comes to maternity inequalities.

Commenting, the RCM’s Chief Executive, Gill Walton, said: 

“The Government has said that it intends to establish a target and strategy for eliminating disparities in maternal health and we need to urgently see that. It should not be the case that in twenty-first century Britain that Black and Asian women disproportionally die in childbirth or soon after and we must all work together to change that. The RCM is focusing on decolonising both the education and practice of midwives and all maternity staff because we believe the positive change we urgently need to see can happen, but the scale of the challenge requires a multi-agency approach. We also need specialist midwives in the right places to provide specialist support.”

In 2024 as part of the RCM’s decolonising work the College set out what is needed to support maternity services and midwives to deliver more culturally competent care and address inequalities. This includes for example developing guidance that is suitable for the assessment of Black or Asian babies that does not use white European babies as the normative standard. Decolonising Midwifery Practice followed the RCM’s Decolonising Midwifery Education toolkit which launched in 2023 and aimed to ensure the midwifery curriculum educates midwives to provide outstanding and safe care to those from all backgrounds.

The RCM also called on Conference for racism and microaggressions both interpersonal and structural to be acknowledged as a factor in the current disparities impacting maternity outcomes. Equally, disadvantages such as poverty, poor housing can have a detrimental impact on birth outcomes says the RCM.

Moving its decolonising midwifery care motion the RCM also called for a multi-agency approach, more partnership working to identify and scale up good practice to tackle the inequalities in maternal outcomes.

Gill added:

“Partnership working and a more joined up approach is absolutely needed particularly for women facing high levels of social disadvantage. These women are often among the most vulnerable in our society and often their first opportunity for real support may only begin at their first booking appointment. When they sit down with their midwife for the first time, there may be more that could have been done to support not only their physical, health and wellbeing, but their mental health also. The pressure that puts on understaffed midwifery services cannot be understated, but midwives are doing their best to care and support these women. That is why the RCM developed a Maternity Disadvantage Assessment Tool (MatDAT) not only to ensure they receive the right care, but also the right support from other agencies.”

 ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

• Decolonising Midwifery Practice – Royal College of Midwives
• RCM seeks to widen the lens in midwifery education to address colonialism in maternity – Royal College of Midwives
•  RCM launches tool to tackle high levels of maternity disadvantage – Royal College of Midwives
• Act now to end the postcode lottery of perinatal mental health services says RCM – Royal College of Midwives
• ‘Midwives need the time to care’ says the RCM as it calls for perinatal mental health support
• Perinatal mental health – why it matters and what midwives can do – Royal College of Midwives (rcm.org.uk)