Ethnic inequalities in maternity services » Health » 24dash.com

The persistence of a wide variation in the quality of maternity services provided to different ethnic groups is of serious concern according to the recently published Better Health briefing paper on maternity service experiences and outcomes of black and minority ethnic women by Kuldip Bharj and Sarah Salway .

The National Health Service has an agenda and policies in place to reduce health inequalities. But this agenda is not consistent with research of and experiences of antenatal and maternity care.

There is evidence of poor outcomes for infants and women during maternity from black and minority ethnic communities. For example, infant mortality rates for babies born Pakistani or Caribbean women were found to be twice that of the white British Group (ONS, 2007). There is a move to widen the remit of maternity services from producing healthy babies to addressing family and well-being issues which are likely to have a positive impact on these outcomes.

Whilst there are mixed experiences of maternity services, studies have generally found lower satisfaction rates amongst minority ethnic women than for white women. There are differences in how maternity services are used by different ethnic groups, with some evidence suggesting that current service provision contributes to adverse outcomes for minority ethnic women. Differences in the level of antenatal care: in terms of booking appointments and the number of antenatal check ups is much lower for minority ethnic women.

A number of barriers are found to undermine timely access to high quality care for many black and minority ethnic women. In addition to language and communication needs and the adequacy of interpreting services, lack of knowledge of services and residential mobility impacts on continuity of care for BME women. Residential mobility is an issue to care and support for particular ethnic groups, such gypsy and traveller women who may be forced to move home during pregnancy or soon after delivery. This can have potential serious implications for these women and their babies health. Outreach work by organisations often aims to improve access to marginalised BME women.

Importantly, Bharj and Salway stress that effective use of population profiling by local health agencies and finding out from women themselves what they want from services is necessary in order to ensure equitable access to maternity services.

These are some of the key messages from the Better Health Briefing paper 'Addressing ethnic inequalities in maternity service experiences and outcomes: responding to womens needs and preferences', which outlines the maternity experiences of black and minority ethnic women, identifies barriers to access and offers suggestions for service improvement. To download the paper, go to: http://www.raceequalityfoundation.org.uk/hsc/briefings.asp

The Better Health and Better Housing briefing papers are part of a programme of work to help improve health and housing services for black and minority ethnic communities. The papers area based on research evidence summarises key messages for practice on a range of topics and contains practice examples, resources and further reading.