Even before the pandemic, Black women in the UK were almost five times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. Black women have also been more than eight times more likely to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19 during pregnancy than white women, while Asian women are four times more likely to be hospitalised.
In May, a University of Oxford study said these hospitalisation rates warranted “urgent investigation”. Public Health England, meanwhile, has more broadly acknowledged the disproportionate COVID-19 death rate for people of colour.
At the end of June – more than three months after the pandemic was declared – NHS England said it was boosting support for pregnant women of colour. This includes increasing their Vitamin D uptake, ensuring ethnicity is recorded on NHS systems, along with other risk factors, and undertaking outreach in their communities.
“Although information was eventually provided by NHS England… it was slow in coming,” said Birte Harlev-Lam, executive director for professional leadership at the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM). Her organisation also launched a campaign, Race Matters, in late June to support pregnant Black and Asian women.
Harlev-Lam said this campaign focuses on getting women “the practical information they need” while also “supporting research and championing positive change.” The RCM has also produced clinical guidance to help midwives identify and support ethnic minority women with high-risk factors, such as those who live in crowded conditions.
Despite this recognition of the increased risks they face, several Black and Asian who are pregnant, or who gave birth recently in England, told openDemocracy they had not received clear and timely information from health professionals about their higher chances of being hospitalised during the pandemic, nor how to protect themselves.
They described being pregnant during COVID-19 as a fraught and anxiety-ridden experience. Some also reported that measures imposed to prevent the spread of infection seemed inadequate or poorly enforced, putting them at further risk.
Jamieson said she did receive an apology from hospital officials over her treatment, but has heard nothing since they promised an investigation. NHS England did not respond to our questions about what it has done to protect pregnant ethnic minority women during the pandemic and ensure they have access to the information they need.
Higher risks, simple requests
“It was simple things that weren’t done, like having marked-off chairs or one-way systems,” said Fizza Qureshi, who is 36 weeks pregnant.
She says she raised these safety concerns with staff at an east London clinic she attended, and that they agreed to start enforcing social distancing measures. But this should have been the case across the NHS from the start, Qureshi insists.
“That would have given me more reassurance that they’ve really thought this through for the people that have to use these spaces,” she said, with other simple requests including “an initial conversation about risk factors… and [the availability] of telephone appointments and thinking through how I would get to the hospital.”
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Tola Onanuga | Radio Free (2020-08-11T07:12:43+00:00) Higher risks, little support: Giving birth while Black and Asian in COVID-19 England. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/08/11/higher-risks-little-support-giving-birth-while-black-and-asian-in-covid-19-england/
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