Government isn’t doing enough to end “shameful” inequality in maternal mortality, MPs say

The government underestimates the extent to which racism plays a role in the “appalling” inequalities in maternity care that mean black women are almost four times as likely to die from childbirth as white women, MPs have said.1

The report by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee said that the government had not done enough to reduce the differences and that the taskforce it set up to tackle the issue had not met in nine months, despite intentions to meet every two months.2 Additionally, the task force’s terms of reference did not mention racism.

“The causes of the appalling disparity in maternal deaths are multiple, complex, and still not fully understood. Fixating on any one cause risks over-simplifying …