MBRRACE-UK: Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care
Lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity 2015–17
Following a delay due to the general election, the MBRRACE-UK Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care report for 2019 has now been published. The full report, lay summary and an infographic illustrating the headline findings is available to download from the MBRRACE-UK website at: https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk
‘Maternal deaths are not evenly spread across our population. This report provides more detail on the inequalities behind these figures. Women from older age groups, black, Asian or mixed ethnic groups or who live in deprived areas have higher maternal death rates’
‘This year’s report shows black women are five times more likely to die as a result of complications in their pregnancy than white women.’
Doula UK is committed to improving care following the MBRRACE-UK 2019 report
- We will use every opportunity (social media, e news, The Doula) to share and engage with news stories and articles to increase awareness of the findings in the 2019 MBRRACE survey.
- In August 2019 we launched a scheme of free bursary places on our Introductory Workshops to prospective new doulas from under-represented backgrounds. The scheme has proven to be very popular and successful.
- In 2020 Doula UK Leadership Team and support staff will undertake Diversity and Inclusion training as part of a full Diversity Consultation.
- Our Doula Access Fund will be open from 2020 and we will be prioritising those identified as more at risk in the MBRRACE report; black, Asian and mixed race families as well as those from a lower socio-economic background.
We interviewed Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent who was appointed England’s first Chief Midwife in March 2019 in our recent issue of The Doula read her response to the 2018 MBRRACE report and the report commentary by Professor Marian Knight Univeristy of Oxford in our Autumn 2019 issue of The Doula.
You can also listen to the Doula UK Podcast following the previous report in 2018.
Rhia Lawrence, Creole Birthkeeper and Doula UK’s Leila Baker talk about the 2018 MBRRACE-UK statistics and how as doulas we can help to support the people most likely to be affected by maternal death.