Something is badly wrong in England’s maternity wards, and an independent inquiry has finally put it in writing. The findings are stark, uncomfortable, and long overdue.
The review, which examined maternity services across England, concluded that unacceptable racism and discrimination is directly affecting the safety of pregnant women and new mothers. This isn’t about hurt feelings or workplace awkwardness. It’s about women receiving worse care because of the colour of their skin, and babies and mothers dying as a result.
Black women in the UK are already nearly three times more likely to die during childbirth than white women, according to figures from MBRRACE-UK. Asian women face roughly twice the risk. The inquiry makes clear these aren’t statistical quirks. They reflect systemic failures in how care is delivered, and to whom.
Investigators spoke to staff and patients across multiple NHS trusts. What emerged was a picture of complaints dismissed, pain downplayed, and concerns waved away. One recurring theme: women from ethnic minority backgrounds reporting that their symptoms weren’t taken as seriously as they should have been.
“We can’t continue like this,” the inquiry concluded, calling for a fundamental overhaul of how maternity services are organised, staffed, and held accountable.
The report recommends mandatory training on racial bias for all maternity staff, stronger whistleblowing protections, and a new national oversight body with actual teeth. Previous inquiries, including the damning Ockenden Review into Shrewsbury and Telford, flagged similar cultural problems. The question people are now asking is why so little changed.
NHS England said it welcomed the report and committed to reviewing its recommendations. Critics would point out that welcoming a report and actually acting on it are two very different things.
Maternity services have been under pressure for years; understaffed, underfunded, and too often left to muddle through. But the discrimination findings go beyond resources. They point to attitudes, assumptions, and a culture that has, in some units, gone unchallenged for far too long.
The real test now isn’t whether the government issues a warm statement. It’s whether the women walking into those wards next year will receive the same standard of care, regardless of where they’re from.
