Black Maternal Health Awareness Week 2022

Black maternal health awareness week ran from 12^th – 18^th September 2022 and is dedicated to raising awareness about disparities in maternal outcomes.  It was founded in 2020 by Five X More, a grassroots organisation “committed to changing Black women and birthing people’s maternal health outcomes in the UK”. Its website  explains that the organisation:

 …was initiated in 2019 when two Black mothers came together with the dream of improving maternal mortality rates and health care outcomes for Black women.

Five X More is dedicated to supporting mothers and birthing people with its campaigning work and recommendations. It focuses on empowering Black women and birthing people to make informed choices and advocate for themselves throughout their pregnancies and after childbirth.

Analysis of maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths shows mothers and babies from Black/Black British and Asian/Asian British ethnic groups have poorer outcomes (see the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths 2017-19 [pdf], November 2021).