Government pledge to ‘level up maternity care’ with new taskforce

A new taskforce has been established to explore disparities in maternity care.

The Government said that it had launched a “Maternity Disparities Taskforce” to examine the reasons why women and their babies from ethnic minority communities and those from poorer neighbourhoods have worse outcomes.

But the announcement comes on the same day that midwives called for an end to charging for services for migrant women amid safety fears.

The Royal College of Midwives said the Government should scrap charges for migrant women, saying that many put off seeking care because they cannot pay for it.

The Department of Health and Social Care said that the new taskforce will identify barriers faced by women in some communities.

It said that black women are 40% more likely to experience a miscarriage than white women, and those who live in deprived areas can have higher rates of still births.

Minister for women’s health Maria Caulfield said: “For too long disparities have persisted which mean women living in deprived areas or from ethnic monitory backgrounds are less likely to get the care they need, and worse, lose their child.

“We must do better to understand and address the causes of this.

“The Maternity Disparities Taskforce will help level up maternity care across the country, bringing together a wide range of experts to deliver real and ambitious change so we can improve care for all women, and I will be monitoring progress closely.”

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