A reproductive health expert has warned that “historical racism” impacts the experiences of pregnancy and contraception health services for black and south Asian women.
Dr Rebecca French, Associate Professor of Sexual and Reproductive Health Research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, has said the issue is partly due to “mistrust in and exclusion from health services” for some ethic minority groups. A report released last year by MBRRACE-UK had found that black women are four times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than white women, while Asian women are twice as likely. Another UK study by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) found that 55 per cent of pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid-19 were from a black, Asian, or minority ethnic background. The recent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report said that “historic experience of racism still haunts the present”, hindering people from ethnic minority backgrounds from engaging in government services, including healthcare. A recent British Pregnant Advisory Service (BPAS) report into the provision of long-acting reversible contraception found that particular groups, including black women and women of colour, felt pressure to use coils, implants and injections.
