Asian women have been referred to as “divas” by NHS staff when they have asked for pain relief in childbirth, while black mothers have been expected to cope because they are “strong”, Wes Streeting has said.
The Health Secretary said he was determined to deal with inequalities and racism in the health service as he launched a national investigation into NHS maternity services.
He pointed to data showing that babies of black ethnicity are twice as likely to be stillborn than babies of white ethnicity, and black women are two to three times more likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after birth than white women.
He said he had been “stunned” by language used against black and Asian mothers in maternity and neonatal units.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do not just on health inequalities, but on racism and discrimination in maternity care,” he said.
“I’ve been really stunned by some of the language that women have heard during the course of their own care: one mother saying that she’d been denied pain relief medication because they thought she was a ‘strong black woman’, another describing Asian mothers referred to as ‘divas’ when they asked for pain relief.
“I’m almost sat there in a state of disbelief, because what you hear is so shocking, you think this can’t possibly be true.
“And then you look at the evidence, and you see that what they have been through, is exactly as they describe.”
The national investigation will look at all aspects of maternity care in England after several high-profile scandals found hundreds of babies have died or been left disabled due to poor care.
