The NHS Race and Health Observatory is urging for more detailed research to be undertaken on any new proposals to induce births in ethnic minority women. The NICE draft guidelines, updated from 2008, recommend that women with uncomplicated single pregnancies should be offered induction at 41 weeks, earlier guidelines advised induction between 41 and 42 weeks.
However, following the closure of a NICE consultation last week, under proposed guidelines, ethnic minority women could be considered for inducement at just 39 weeks. A number of concerns have been raised by the independent race and health body on the development, implications and scope of the consultation which closed on 6 July.
Black women are up to four times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth, with Asian women up to twice as likely, in comparison to white women. Director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, Dr Habib Naqvi, said: “Addressing ethnic health inequalities in maternal outcomes is a key priority of the Observatory. It is paramount that we have diversity represented in feedback on this crucial matter from stakeholders and women most affected have their voices heard.
“Maternal health, or the lack of it, remains one of the starkest examples of ethnic health inequalities in the UK. Any final guidance needs to ensure interventions are evidence-based and designed to reduce, rather than widen, the maternal mortality gap.”
The NHS Race and Health Observatory has an established maternal health working group to look at research and evidence-based recommendations to help reduce ethnic inequalities in maternity care.
Consultant Obstetrician and deputy chair of the NHS Race and Health Observatory’s maternal working group, Dr Daghni Rajasingam, said:
“We need more research which looks into reproduction outcomes for black, Asian and minority ethnic women. Any call for potential inducement has to be factored on a case by case clinical basis and not be proposed for all women without reasoned rationale. The new guidance must explore and act on the systemic issues that lead to black, Asian and minority ethnic women experiencing poorer outcomes in maternal care which places them at higher risk of complications and maternal mortality.”
Final guidelines are expected to be published on 14 October 2021.
