Released on: 12 December 2024
Responding to the MBRRACE-UK report into the care of recent migrant women with language barriers who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death, Angela McConville, Chief Executive at NCT, said:
“My deepest sympathies are with women and parents who have experienced baby loss.
"Today’s report shows how many of these deaths occurred as a result of systemic failures with the NHS, directly impacting migrant women and people.
“NHS maternity services do not go far enough to support migrant women and people giving birth in the UK, who, too often, are unsure what care to expect or how to navigate the system. The absence of translation and interpretation services, poor access to or awareness of antenatal education and patchy continuity of care perpetuates the disparities experienced by migrant parents.
“Migrant women and parents whose preferred language is other than English continue to face barriers at every stage of their maternity journey. We need urgent reform of interpretation services, so that parents' translation needs are documented early in their pregnancy. Interpreters should then be provided throughout their maternity and postnatal care, so that they never find themselves having complex or life-changing conversations without culturally sensitive support.
“The lack of coordination between healthcare professionals is dangerous. Close teamwork and communication between professionals - alongside adequate time for staff to read notes – is critical to creating safer maternity services. But without continuity between care providers, it is the most vulnerable people who fall through the gaps and fail to get the care they need.
“We cannot ignore the systemic barriers facing these women and new parents and we welcome the report’s recommendations, including enhanced training for maternity and healthcare staff so they can deliver more compassionate, culturally competent care. Ensuring multiple routes of access to maternity care and introducing initial health screening appointments for migrant women and people are also key interventions that would enable access to care earlier.”
You can read the full report here.
