Black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts (‘National disgrace’: Black mothers in England twice as likely to have an NHS birth screening, July 23). South Asian women and Muslim women also have worse maternal health outcomes. If the woman doesn’t speak English, she is 25 times more likely to die. And these shocking statistics are without these characteristics intersecting.
I am a gynaecologist who has worked in maternity units in the south of England. But I am also a woman of mixed black and south Asian ethnicity, and I am Muslim. So these are not just tragic statistics for me. These are women like me who are disproportionately and needlessly dying at what should be the happiest time of their lives.
I truly have one of the best jobs you can imagine. It is my glorious duty and honor to welcome babies safely into this world and into the arms of their mothers. In theater, the birth of the baby is the triumphant final act, but what really deserves more attention is all that happens behind the scenes that has a huge impact on how a pregnant woman’s story ends.
We need a transformation from patient-centered to person-centered care. Simply put, that means treating the individual in front of us. This can look like referring her to services specific to her needs, really listening to her, ensuring that language is not a deadly barrierand by actively working to purify our own thoughts and decision-making processes from biases.
An NHS that is underfunded and overstaffed with professionals relying on outdated systems contributes to poorer outcomes for these women because it makes these person-centred considerations harder to implement. I have seen this happen and the statistics bear it out.
There is no silver bullet to solve this systemic problem, but a combination of policy interventions, better collaboration between services and responsible use of emerging technology can go a long way to ensuring every woman has an equal chance of a successful pregnancy.
Dr. Yasmin Mulji
Specialist Registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Trustee, Maternal Mental Health Alliance