Released on: 14 December 2023
Responding to today’s reports issued by MBRRACE-UK and SANDS, Angela McConville, Chief Executive at NCT said:
The reports issued today by MBRRACE-UK and SANDS together tell a powerful and heartbreakingly familiar story of overstretched maternity services, poor levels of care and attention to pregnant women, and the continued failure to listen to the needs of Black and Asian women within the healthcare system.
At NCT, our first response is deep and sincere sympathy for the women, parents and families affected, especially those with the devastating knowledge that the loss of their baby could have been avoided with better, culturally safe and sensitive care.
The SANDS report points to a lack of personalised care, compassion and communication which is sadly something we continue to hear about through the ongoing enquiries into maternity services and safety. Parents share how concerns were not taken seriously, warning signs went unnoticed and important investigations were missed, all leading to devastating loss. MBRRACE highlights discrimination in basic issues of care; there is simply no excuse for why tests for gestational diabetes, and vitamin D provision, were not administered in an equitable, personalised way within the healthcare system. Language support and improvements in accessing interpreting service provision are clearly also urgently needed.
While we recognise that today’s MBRRACE reports pre-date Covid, they contribute to an ever-building picture of the stark state of maternity services and safety in the UK. The SANDS findings reflect a picture that in 2023 is no less concerning.
We renew our calls for fully staffed maternity units and community teams, stronger compassionate leadership, better training, improved listening to women and dialogue with parents, stronger cultural competence including support where language is a barrier to care, and improvements in the recording of data, so healthcare services can reflect the needs of pregnant women and birthing people, and their babies, when they may be at their most vulnerable.
