Maternity care for black women must improve - MP

An MP has said maternity care for black women "has to improve" after an inquiry into services got under way.

Paulette Hamilton, who represents Birmingham Erdington, said one in four black women receiving maternal care were "dying or having poor outcomes" across England.

The Labour MP's comments came after the health and social care select committee, of which she is acting chair, launched its inquiry into black maternal health earlier this week.

"Mothers go into hospital and it's supposed to be a happy occasion," she told BBC Politics Midlands.

"But they're coming out with no children, dying or are disabled for some reason. It has to be improved."

Ms Hamilton defended the government on the issue and said it was committed to improving maternity services in the NHS.

Councillor Ade Adeyemo, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Solihull Council, agreed people from ethnic minorities "do extremely badly in maternity".

He criticised the government's reorganisation of integrated care boards (ICBs), which he said would distract health leaders from improving services.

"The focus is not going to be on maternity care," he said. "By the time they finish sorting out the reorganisation, we've got mothers, parents, families who are having to go through bad experiences with their maternity which is not really fair."

Ex-Conservative MP Theo Clarke, who represented Stafford from 2019 to 2024, recently criticised the government for its lack of progress in improving maternity care.

She suffered severe blood loss and needed emergency surgery following a 40-hour labour to deliver her daughter at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in 2022.

Staffordshire's Conservative Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Ben Adams praised Ms Clarke for raising an issue that many first-time mothers "didn't feel comfortable raising".

"Having a child is such a wonderful thing but it is a traumatic, massive act and I think fundamentally we need the NHS and others to listen very carefully about what Theo has said about how they can improve," he added.

As a result of a landmark review into maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, NHS England said it would increase spending on maternity care by £95m a year.

But analysis of NHS funding for this year, carried out by the Health Service Journal, showed just £2m of the £95m was to be ringfenced for 2025-26.

Health and Social Care Minister Stephen Kinnock defended the government's decision and said decisions about funding should be made locally by ICBs.

He told BBC Politics Midlands: "They are best placed to determine how best to manage care across their areas. There will be greater needs in some parts of the country than others."

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