On the 20th October 2020, 88 participants attended the Inaugural Meeting of the APPG on Muslim Women. At the meeting, Naz Shah MP and Caroline Nokes MP were elected as Co-Chairs of this new APPG and the Muslim Women’s Network UK were elected as Secretariat. Jess Phillips MP and Nusrat Ghani MP were also elected as Vice-Chairs and Apsana Begum MP, Afzal Khan MP and Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece were elected Officers.The purpose of the APPG on Muslim women is as follows: “to support social justice and equality for Muslim women and transform their lives by debating, scrutinising, investigating and raising awareness of issues affecting them to influence practice, policy, legislation and attitudes.” MWNUK also announced the launch of its first inquiry: ‘Muslim Women's Experiences of Maternity Care.’ This much-needed research will be conducted by Dr Suriyah Bi and is funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (who are also funding the Secretariat support). Given the shocking health disparities, the aim of this research is to develop an in-depth understanding of the experiences of Muslim women who have accessed maternity care in the last five years in England, and to better understand the different factors which have had an impact on the maternal health care received by them.
A Panel discussion also took place on the issues faced by Muslim women when accessing maternal health care services, and the need for more research. Speakers included Dr Edward (Eddie) Morris - President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Shaista Gohir OBE – Co-Chair of MWNUK and Women’s Voices Lead at the RCOG.
