Black Maternity Deaths in the UK

As I stated in my recent blog post on Stylist’s Black British Women’s Census, Black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth as are white women in the UK. 

I watched the Dispatches report on Black maternity deaths last night.

A report on Black women, Racism and Human Rights produced by the House of Commons and House of Lords Joint Committee last year (2020) showed that Black women were five times more likely to die in childbirth, or within six weeks after childbirth, than were white women. This figure has now dropped to four times, but this drop is not considered to be statistically significant.

The report concluded that Black people’s human rights are not equally protected.

The report found that “over 60% of Black people in the UK do not believe their health is as equally protected by the NHS compared to white people”.

It also found that “85% of black [sic] people are not confident that they would be treated the same as a white person by the police”.

Asian women are twice as likely to die in childbirth as are white women.

You can read the report here or read the summary, conclusions and recommendations here.

According to Dispatches, the system knows there is a problem but has no targets to end this.

Maternal deaths are not the only issue here. A “near miss” is defined as a life-threatening complication or morbidity during or within six weeks after childbirth.

African women (from Africa) are 83% more likely to experience a “near miss” than white women. African Caribbean women are 80% more likely to experience a “near miss” than white women. 

 

Several women described their experiences of maternity care, and mistakes that were made, and there is an ongoing issue about Black patients not being given sufficient pain relief.  This happens on both sides of the Atlantic.  One of the women interviewed was an NHS Consultant who had experienced poor quality treatment as a patient.  

 

I have personally had my own experience of having two different NHS doctors at two different London hospitals try to pressure me into having a hysterectomy I neither needed nor wanted. This was NOT maternity related. It has echoes of what Fanny Lou Hamer called the “Mississippi appendectomy”. 

 

Five X More is an organisation of Black women challenging the statistics and offering mutual support to mothers.

Their petition on addressing disparities in maternity care, which they posted in March/April 2020, has obtained 183,000 signatures, which means it will have to be discussed in Parliament. Five X More found that many mothers were not aware of the statistics.

This reminds me of the Windrush Scandal, where people who were targeted were unaware that many thousands of people were going through the same ordeal.

Five X More have stated that they want:

1) An explanation as to why there is this disparity of maternity care for Black women and white women; and

2) Action to be taken to address this issue.

Their target is for 85% of women to receive continuity of carers, i.e. the same midwife and team, throughout pregnancy and childbirth.

If we really believe that Black Lives Matter, we MUST address disparities in healthcare for Black men and women.

Why Are Black Women Less Likely To Stick With A Breast Cancer Follow-Up Treatment?

Black Women and Breast Cancer

Niasha Fray used to counsel women about sticking with their cancer treatment.  Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer and  started to experience first-hand what her counselling clients went through. 

Black women are less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but are 40% more likely to die from it.  The disparity can be even higher for other cancers.

According to this article, part of the reason for this is that Black women are less likely to stick with follow-up treatment. 

If African American women -  and men - are less likely to attend follow-up appointments or stick with the treatment, there could be many reasons for this.  They could be finding it harder to pay for the treatment.  Finances are often a factor.  They may find it difficult to have to take time off from work; transport may be a problem.

Black patients tend to do better with Black doctors.  There may be other psychological, emotional or social factors involved. Read this article to find out more about this topic. 

To find out about my cancer journey, go here for my Cancer Journals. 

Please share your responses below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.

Six Things in Your Home that Can Cause Cancer

This one is really scary.  

Consumer health groups have studied many household products and warned that they contain carcinogens, or ingredients known to cause cancer. 

Click here to read more.  

Plus, remember, Black women are more prone to particular types of cancers.  Click here to read about Black women and breast cancer.  

Older Black Women and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

What measures are Black women aged 50 and over taking to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS?  The answers may shock you.  

These are some of the issues being tackled by the Black Women's Health Imperative.  These are very difficult conversations, but they need to be held, and we need to hear them.  Listen to the audio below. 

Listen to internet radio with Imperative Radio on Blog Talk Radio

Black Women and Breast Cancer

I recently attended an event about Black women and breast cancer. Here's what I learned:

Black women have a significantly lower risk of developing breast cancer than white women.

However, more Black women tend to die of breast cancer because they tend to develop a more aggressive form of the disease, which appears at an earlier age.

Click here to read about triple negative breast cancer.

This can lead to women’s concerns being dismissed by doctors who think they are “too young” to have to worry about breast cancer.

There is not enough information available about how this disease affects Black women. Doctors and healthcare professionals, including cancer charities, tend to be unaware of the issues Black women face.

Breast cancer can be caused by common household chemicals, including some Black hair care products, those which contain paraffin, parabens, mineral oil and N\pS./

Marina Raime of Betterdays Cancer Care

Maria Raime gave a very moving presentation based on her own personal experience.

When she first discovered a lump, Marina went to the GP twice and was turned away.

Young women often struggle to get a correct diagnosis.

When she was diagnosed, Marina needed information about breast-feeding and infertility.

She was treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital, which is classed as a Centre of Excellence in treating breast cancer. However, the second time she had the disease, she presented with a rash and was told it had been caused by laundry detergent, even though she was a cancer survivor.

After her double mastectomy, she was offered a white prosthesis.

She found that the literature on breast cancer was for older women and contained images of white women.

She did not receive any co-ordinated care as a pregnant woman with breast cancer.

The effects of the chemotherapy and radiotherapy she received have been long-term. No research has been done about the effects of these therapies on Black women.

After her charity, Better Days Cancer Care, set up their website, they received phonecalls from people asking “Why do you only have images of Black women on the site?” and “Why are there no images of white women?”.

The site was hacked by a hater, and all the research data was removed from the site.

Marina emphasised the importance of claiming ownership of the Black breast – our breasts are ours.

Betterdays are now working with Kings Healthcare Trust in a project led by Harold Freeman, an esteemed breast cancer expert from Harlem.

This event was held by London Black History Walks. They will repeat this event in July 2010.

On another note, many people have been cured of cancer and other serious diseases using Spiritual Response Therapy (SRT). For more info, see The Higher Self.

Books about Using Food to Prevent and Treat Cancer

Foods to Fight Cancer
The Cancer Survivor's Guide: Foods that Help You Fight Back
Nature’s Cancer-Fighting Foods

Cooking with Foods that Fight Cancer
What To Eat if You Have Cancer: Healing Foods that Boost Your Immune System

Foods that Fight Cancer: Preventing Cancer through Diet

Why Don't I Have Good Hair?

Chris Rock's daughter asked him this question, "Daddy, why don't I have good hair?".

This film is his response. Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A68UVn0nMvo

A huge, multi-billion-dollar industry has been built, and thrives, on Black women's hatred of ourselves. See: Black Hair Care: From Korea to Your Neighbourhood

Sistas and brothas, when are we going to learn to love ourselves - all of ourselves, including our hair, skin, thighs, other "problem areas", etc.?

Check this out: The Key to Confidence

Relief for Diabetes Pain

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is based on acupuncture, but it uses no needles and no drugs. can be used successfully to relieve the pain of diabetes without drugs. It is very easy and quick to learn. Click here to download a free ebook on treating diabetes and the associated pain.

Click here to read lots more about EFT and download our free manual and free EFT videos.

The Black Barbershop Men's Health Project promotes health to African American men in the areas of hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes. To read an article about the project by Dr. Bill Releford, order the free ebook More Black Success Volume 5.

Click here to read a report on the challenges facing Black women, including high levels of cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Black Women, Men and Self-Hatred

I’ve been reading an article in “Essence” on Black women and self-hatred. The article states that our negativity towards each other is due partly to our conditioning, i.e. Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. I couldn’t agree more.

But this negativity does not just affect sistas. It damages brothas too. It damages our children. Its toxic effects seep into our families.

This affects people from Africa as well – witness the use of wigs and skin-bleaching creams.

What can we do about it? My work is all about practical solutions.

To read more, see Getting Past the Hate, to Have More Love.