The Guardian view on maternity care failings: black women and babies are hardest hit | Editorial

The mortality gap between mothers and infants of different ethnicities reflects the need to tackle discrimination and racism inside and outside healthcare

Childbirth is a vulnerable time for any woman. Black women have particular cause to be anxious. Their labours are almost twice as likely to be investigated for potential NHS failings, the Guardian revealed this week, with the head of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), Gill Walton, blaming institutional racism. For every 1,000 deliveries by black women, there were 2.3 investigations, compared with 1.3 for white women.

Black women are up to six times more likely to experience some of the most serious birth complications as their white counterparts and almost four times as likely to die in pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum, while Asian women are almost twice as likely to die. Black babies are almost twice as likely to die as white; Asian babies are also at greater risk.