Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on tackling racial disparities in maternity care in the UK.

Officials in the Office for Equality and Opportunity and the Department of Health and Social Care are working collaboratively to tackle this issue.

The government is clear there is a need to reform maternity and neonatal care to tackle the systemic issues that entrench inequalities and contribute to poor care for women and babies. This is why a key area of focus for the National Maternity Investigation will be addressing the devastating inequalities that women from Black, Asian and deprived backgrounds face.

On 28 August the Office for Equality and Opportunity published research into the drivers of confidence in maternal care services in England to gain evidence from ethnic minority women on their experiences of using maternal care services. This can be found on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/confidence-in-maternity-care-services-engagement-with-ethnic-minority-women-and-maternity-staff