Blog: The importance of tackling health inequalities in maternity care

Having a baby can be the most joyous time for people but on the occasions when things go wrong the impacts can be devastating.

We know from multiple reviews in recent years that not every woman, baby and family receives the safe, kind and equitable maternity care they deserve. And sadly, women and babies from minoritised groups can be more likely to experience poorer outcomes.


That’s why it was so refreshing to hear, as part of our Good Teamwork Means Better Maternity Care campaign, from so many professionals who are working hard to tackle these health inequalities.

Health inequalities in maternity care

In 2024, MBRRACE-UK’s Saving Lives, Improving Mothers' Care report¹ highlighted that Black women had almost three times the maternal mortality rate of White women; Asian women had almost twice the rate; and women living in the most deprived areas of the country have maternal mortality rates over twice those of women living in the least deprived areas.

And recently, the Health and Social Care Committee published a report² which found that racism is one of the core drivers of poor maternal outcomes.

These findings underscore the importance of ensuring consistent, high-quality, and inclusive maternity services that provide safe and person-centred care for every family.

Good Teamwork Means Better Maternity Care: health inequalities

As part of Good Teamwork Means Better Maternity Care, we heard perspectives from different professionals such as midwives, neonatal nurses and doctors, as well as women and families. I’d encourage you to read their reflections in our case studies to learn from their views and experiences. Consider your own practice and what you might do differently to provide the best possible care. The health inequalities section covers:

• Understanding local communities: maternity teams need to understand their local communities in order to provide effective care for people. Midwives Sabrina Mubiru and Janine Grayson explain the importance of understanding the needs of women, babies and families in their local communities – whether those come from factors such as deprivation, language barriers or the lack of a support network.
• Personalising care: providing personalised care is crucial for tackling health inequalities and in this case study we hear insights from midwives Sabrina Mubiru and Kemi Akinmeji, neonatal nurse Patrick Desmonde and Natalie Whyte, a service user and advocate for perinatal services. They explain the importance of meeting people’s unique needs – whether those come from disabilities, from being new to the UK, or from their past experiences of pregnancy or baby loss.
• Cultural safety: As Cultural Safety Midwives, May Stevens and Paris Pinnock-Cowell work across disciplines to ensure that maternity care in Sheffield meets the needs of all women. They explain how they collaborate with obstetricians, midwives, governance teams and other healthcare professionals to integrate cultural safety into everyday practice, focusing on education, policy and patient advocacy.

The health inequalities section is one of four in the resource, with the others covering teamworking, communication and escalation. The voices we’ve heard through this work highlight both the dedication within maternity services and the need for change – we hope that midwives and nurses working in maternity settings find them a useful resource.

The NMC’s Midwifery Action Plan

Good Teamwork Means Better Maternity Care is just one part of the plan we recently published to set out our work and priorities to support the best possible midwifery care.

This includes:

• Exercises to understand how the standards of proficiency for midwives are being used in education and practice
• Our reviews of the Code and revalidation
• Our new principles for supporting women’s choices in maternity care
• Our new principles for advanced practice
• We plan to consult in February 2026 on changes to several education standards, with a focus on strengthening practice learning for student midwives.
• We’ll soon launch a new midwifery data dashboard, including information about demographics, time on the register, for each of the four UK nations.

By listening to women’s experiences, learning from national reviews and working closely with our partners, we’re taking forward meaningful actions that will help improve outcomes and ensure public confidence in maternity services.

1 MBRRACE-UK’s Saving Lives, Improving Mothers' Care report
2 NMC responds to Health and Social Care Committee’s report into Black maternal health

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