Official All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Black Maternal Health. linktr.ee/bmh_appg Chair: Bell Ribeiro-Addy
Secretariat: Five X More
As highlighted in the Dispatches documentary 'The Black Maternity Scandal', Black women are four times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth. The APPG aims to raise awareness of the issue of racial disparities within maternal healthcare and offer solutions to end this.
25/04/2024
Yesterday morning we hosted a Black Maternal Health APPG Meeting in recognition of the 5th annual Black Maternal Health Awareness Week. Thank you to Bliss, Birth Trauma Association - UK Pregnancy Sickness Support for contributing to this conversation.
Black disabled mothers face a triple hurdle of ableism, racism and misogyny. On Black Maternal Health Awareness Week, it’s vital that we work to dismantle stereotypes and ensure everyone receives the level of care, support, and respect they deserve.
Black women are 3.7 times more likely to die in childbirth. Our APPG aims to raise awareness, empower health organisations to do better and drive through policy changes to ensure the colour of a mother's skin has no bearing on her health outcomes or her baby's
04/08/2023
Sadiq Khan opens Ulez scrappage scheme to all Londoners The Labour mayor has come under significant pressure from within his own party in recent weeks over the Ulez expansion
04/05/2023
Thank you again to the MPs, campaigners and health professionals that attended last week's meeting in Parliament, to our secretariat Five X More for organising and our Chair Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP for hosting
Make sure to sign up for our next meeting!
What is allyship? Allyship refers to actions, behaviours, and practices that can be taken to support, amplify, and advocate for (in our case) Black mothers. Because systemic change in maternity care requires everyone, not just those impacted, to fight for it.
Institutional racism creates a culturally insensitive environment where bias prevents Black women from being viewed outside the prism of racist stereotypes. Everyone has a duty to take action, support, amplify, and advocate for Black maternal health and to end inequalities
It is vital that Black mothers are included in the conversation around maternal health.
The system removes their power.
It is our responsibility to restore their confidence & empower them to advocate for their rights by listening, understanding, supporting & taking action
28/04/2023
The government is failing to address the health disparities facing Black mothers in the UK.
They need to listen to the data, the experts, the women impacted, and set binding targets to eliminate racial health inequalities in maternity care
Midwives plead for targets to end FOUR times higher black maternal death rate One of Britain's leading midwives pleaded for ministers to set targets to reduce Black women dying in childbirth as she said: 'They have set targets for stillbirths, for premature births, but never for black women'
27/04/2023
At this week's APPG meeting in Parliament, we discussed the latest updates and progress in the world of maternity and Black maternal health.
We heard from MPs, campaigners & health professionals calling for binding government targets to end maternal health disparities
25/04/2023
Please write to your MP to urge them to sign the pledge and visit our secretariat: www.fivexmore.com to get involved.
Mounting evidence from one report after another explains that racial disparities in Black maternal health are a stark indication of how severe the consequences of racism can be.
For the health and well-being of Black mothers and birthing people, we need the government to tackle structural racism in maternal health.
Post Credit: FiveXMore
Powerful words from our chair Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP who spoke during a Petition Committee debate that followed the Five X More Parliamentary Petition, which received signatures from over 187,000 people.
For the first time in its history, on 19th April 2021 we saw Parliament debating Black maternal healthcare.
Will our Government become part of the solution, or will it continue to ignore and blame those who are suffering?
We do not want empty promises because promises do not save lives. We want action.
Visit the link in our bio to read the report in full.
24/04/2023
Click the link in our bio to read the 'The Black Maternity Experiences Report'.
Every mother and birthing person deserves to be heard, respected and treated with dignity.
We need the government to commit to reducing these disparities that have been present and impacting Black maternal healthcare for decades by setting a national binding target.