Take Part in Our Maternity Project
Over the coming months, Healthwatch Lambeth will be undertaking a maternity project that explores women's experiences of maternity services in Lambeth.
South East London Local Maternity and Neonatal System is a partnership of maternity and neonatal service providers, commissioners, local authorities, and maternity voice partnerships working together to transform maternity services across south east London. Earlier this year, we received funding from them to explore women's experiences of maternity services, especially from Lambeth's seldom- seen and -heard groups and communities.
In the coming months, we will be speaking to women who have used maternity services in Lambeth including Black women, Asian women, ethnic minority women, migrant women, asylum seeking women, women with disabilities, and women living in areas of disadvantage.
National audits of maternal and perinatal deaths found women and babies from the poorest backgrounds, and women from Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities (including asylum seekers), are particularly vulnerable to poor maternal and infant health outcomes.
In comparison to White women, Black women are more than four times more likely to die from pregnancy and childbearing related complications and women from Asian backgrounds are almost two times more likely to die. These women are also at higher risk of experiencing premature birth, stillbirth or neonatal deaths.
South East London has a significantly higher percentage of women living in the most deprived areas booking in for maternity care while Lambeth has a high proportion of Black, Asian, and Ethnic Minority groups.
Healthwatch Lambeth has a track record of speaking to women in Lambeth about maternity services. In 2019, we carried out community research aimed at understanding the experiences of mothers in Lambeth who had mild to moderate mental health conditions during the perinatal stage. In 2020, we spoke to women who gave birth at King's during the lockdown to explore how their experiences of care during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period were affected by the pandemic.
The aim of our latest work is to co-produce and collaborate with grassroots organisations, involving them in all stages of the project: from initial ideas to planning, delivering and reporting – this will provide valuable feedback on good practice to engage with seldom-heard groups in the future.
If you are a local voluntary or community group, working with or supporting women in one of the above groups or communities, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at info@healthwatchlambeth.org.uk
