Maternity services in West Birmingham: The experiences of Black African and Black Caribbean women

Healthwatch Birmingham wanted to understand Black African and Black Caribbean women’s views of antenatal care, labour and birth and post natal care in West Birmingham.  They also sought to identify and understand barriers (e.g. real or anticipated discrimination, challenges around language, knowledge about service availability and uptake, or faith and cultural needs not accommodated) that women experience/d when accessing maternity services in West Birmingham. They undertook interviews with 26 women.

Women experienced inequalities throughout antenatal care, labour and birth, and postnatal care. These include experiences of discrimination, stereotypes, lack of access to information and interpreters, and not being listened to. The findings also show that although women experience challenges at various stages of the maternity pathway, these challenges seem more significant in the postnatal period. Women new to the country seem to experience significant challenges due to language barriers and lack of understanding of how the healthcare system works.

Some women told Healthwatch about positive experiences of the care they received during their pregnancy, either during antenatal care, labour and birth, and postnatal care. These women may have had a positive experience in one area but not in another (e.g. in antenatal care but not in postnatal care). Examples of good practice included: quick referrals to midwife or community care by GPs in the early stages of pregnancy, which aids screening and the support that a woman will receive and staff that support women throughout the process, showing compassion and empathy – asking the right questions and acting accordingly.

The research also identified examples of poor experiences, including lack of continuity of care and inability to discuss issues such as poor mental health, poor staff attitudes, not feeling they had real choice over where to give birth and what type of birth to have; feeling ignored and disbelieved about level of pain and experiences of discrimination and racism.

The report contains a number of suggestions for improvement and a response from the Trust outlining the changes they are planning to make in response.