Ethnic disparities in infant mortality rates ‘disgusting’ as government urged to take action | UK News

Having children means everything to Vaishali Bamania, who discovered she had cancer while trying to have a child, months after marrying her husband Rahul.

She fought and beat uterine cancer, then went through an 18-month journey of IVF to get pregnant.

“We were happy, we felt like all our dreams had come true and that the 18-month treatment was worth it,” she said.

“We thought this was all behind us and we could move on and bring home a baby in nine months.”

Their daughter Jaya was born at 22 weeks on August 19, 2019. She died the same day.

“She was born alive. We stayed with her for 14 minutes and then she stopped breathing,” Vaishali added.

During her pregnancy, Vaishali was told she was “high risk” but said she did not receive any additional care such as blood tests and screenings.

And when she informed the midwives that she was experiencing unusual symptoms, she said her concerns were ignored.

Vaishali understands that the death of a baby is not a rare event, around 13 die just before, during or shortly after birth every day in the UK.

But she said the fact that there continue to be huge inequalities in outcomes for babies of different ethnicities in the UK is “disgusting”.

“I shouldn’t be more likely to lose my baby because of the color of my skin. Knowing that this is more likely to happen to me or someone who is black, because of their ethnicity, is simply shocking.

“We are in 2024.”

She joined other bereaved parents who are supported by the charity Sands and wrote an open letter to the newly formed government urging them to address the disparities.

Stillbirth rates continue to be higher for black babies (7.52 per 1,000 total births) and Asian babies (5.15 per 1,000 total births) compared to white babies (3.30 per 1,000 total births).

There was a very small increase in stillbirth rates from 2020 for white and Asian babies, but a larger increase for black babies, representing a rise in inequalities.

For neonatal mortality, the rate for black babies has increased to 2.94 per 1,000 live births, meaning this group now has the highest rate of neonatal mortality.

There was a drop in the neonatal mortality rate for babies of Asian ethnicity (2.22 per 1,000 births).

The neonatal mortality rate for white babies increased, but remained lower than the rates for black and Asian babies, at 1.68 per 1,000 live births.

“It is completely unacceptable that these disparities exist and it is desperately sad because we know it doesn’t have to be this way,” said Clea Harmer, CEO of Sands.

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“I think this sends the saddest and most unacceptable message to these women that actually the fact that their babies have a different skin color is not seen as equal and as important as white babies.

“I don’t think anyone would want that message or that reality.

“I think any maternity improvement program has to address inequalities as part of its overall framework and it’s really important to have a specific inequalities target as part of its overall framework.”

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An NHS spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable that black and Asian mothers and their babies experience disparities in care, and although the NHS has made improvements to maternity services over the last decade, we know that much more work is needed to combat inequalities and ensure that all women and families receive high-quality care before, during and after pregnancy.

“We are investing an additional £10 million of funding over the next year to reduce inequalities – this includes offering greater continuity of midwifery from care teams where there is safe staffing and extra support for women living in the most deprived areas and who have greater likely to experience adverse outcomes during pregnancy and childbirth.”