Racism in UK maternity care risks safety of Black, Asian and mixed ethnicity women – study

Participants in charity’s year-long inquiry describe being ignored and feeling patronised and dehumanised

Systemic racism within UK maternity care is risking the safety of people from Black, Asian and mixed ethnicity backgrounds, often with devastating consequences, according to a report by the childbirth charity Birthrights.

More than 300 people with lived and professional experience of racial injustice in a maternity setting gave evidence to an expert panel chaired by Shaheen Rahman QC, a barrister who specialises in clinical negligence, as part of the charity’s year-long inquiry into the issue.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/7artY2K

UK fertility watchdog could recommend scrapping donor anonymity law

Exclusive: HFEA says rise of genetic testing websites may soon make it impossible to conceal identities

The fertility watchdog is considering whether to recommend scrapping anonymity for future sperm and egg donors as part of an expected overhaul of UK fertility laws.

Peter Thompson, the chief executive of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), said the rapid rise of consumer genetic testing websites such as 23andMe could soon make it impossible to guarantee donor anonymity – and that the law needs to be brought into line with this new reality.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/nxdSk6L

‘I’m a pregnant woman making choices’: Shauna Coxsey on climbing – and the ‘bullies’ who want her to stop

With a baby due in just days, the Olympian is still reaching for the heights. She talks about the sport she loves, the criticisms she ignores, and the example she hopes to set

The week her baby is due, Shauna Coxsey is, as usual, at her local climbing centre in Sheffield. The British Olympic climber has scaled climbing walls and rocks throughout her pregnancy, and videos shared on her Instagram account show her making her way gracefully and powerfully upwards, in control of her body, as she switches holds to accommodate her growing bump.

Her decision drew criticism – as she knew it would – and she was forced to hit back at the online “bullying”. For a start, she says, with nearly 450,000 Instagram followers, she knows social media “is a place where you’re going to get criticised, regardless of what you say”. But she had also seen the reaction other women have faced. “One of my good friends, who is incredibly strong and confident, stopped climbing because she couldn’t be bothered with the judgment and the funny looks she got in her late pregnancy,” says Coxsey. “The idea that someone would stop doing something they absolutely love because of the judgment; it’s so sad we’re in a position where that happens still.”

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3kSxgdv

E-cigarettes ‘as safe as nicotine patches’ for pregnant smokers trying to quit

Pregnant smokers were more likely to quit when using e-cigarettes than patches after four weeks, study shows

E-cigarettes are as safe to use as nicotine patches for pregnant smokers trying to quit, and may be a more effective tool, researchers have revealed.

Smoking in pregnancy can increase the risk of outcomes including premature birth, miscarriage and the baby having a low birth weight. But stubbing out the habit can be a struggle.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/Gw1OSZA

The people making a difference – the woman breaking down stigma for mothers with HIV

Angelina Namiba founded a group that supports new mothers living with HIV. Now it is her turn to be looked after

When Angelina Namiba was diagnosed with HIV in 1993, the virus was commonly believed to be a death sentence. “People were being told they had six months to live,” says Namiba, who is 55 and lives in east London.

Thinking that if she was going to die, she may as well take a job to keep her busy, Namiba began working for a health authority. In her spare time, she volunteered for an HIV charity.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/PDHgTLA

My husband was hopeless with our babies and I’m still angry. How do I forgive him? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

It’s no wonder you are furious, despite your husband’s attitude improving. But living with this resentment is not sustainable

My husband and I have been married for seven years, and we have three young children. Before we got married, we talked about having kids and both agreed we wanted three.

However, when I got pregnant with our first, my husband didn’t seem to care. He showed me no consideration when I felt unwell during the pregnancy, and when our first baby was born he barely interacted with her, sleeping in a different room so as not to be bothered by her at night, and refusing to take her out in the pram during the day so I could rest. He came home from work late and insisted on a significant amount of alone time at weekends. Getting him to do a nappy change was a huge fight. It was as if he thought our daughter was nothing to do with him.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/kfuvgCh

Under Boris Johnson, the rights of working women have become a feeble joke | Angela Rayner

The government promised us an employment bill to protect women at work. Where is it?

Everyone deserves to be treated fairly at work. But too many women find themselves discriminated against by their employer because they are pregnant. Many are pushed out of work because they have caring responsibilities for their children or elderly parents, and many still experience sexual harassment at work.

Three years ago, the government promised to publish an employment bill that would extend redundancy protections to prevent pregnancy and maternity discrimination, and allow parents to take extended paid leave when newborns need neonatal care. Ministers have promised – no less than 20 times – to publish the bill. But the government has since abandoned this promise. The Conservatives are failing working women once again.

Angela Rayner is the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, Labour deputy leader, shadow chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and shadow secretary of state for the future of work

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/eObUYij

Lack of drugs for use in pregnancy ‘resulting in needless deaths’ in UK

Experts call for urgent investment and effort to transform pregnant women’s access to modern medicine

Women and babies in the UK are “dying needlessly” because of a lack of suitable medicines to use in pregnancy, according to a report that calls for a radical overhaul of maternal health.

A “profound” shortage of research and the widespread exclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women from clinical trials means hardly any new drugs are approved for common medical problems in pregnancy or soon after childbirth, the report finds.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/rvZYbtz

Covid vaccines safe for pregnant women and cut stillbirth risk, says review

Chance of stillbirth reduced by 15%, researchers find, after examining studies and trials that enrolled 117,552 women

Doctors have stressed the importance of Covid vaccinations for pregnant women after a major review found the shots were not only safe, but reduced the risk of stillbirth by 15%.

Researchers at St George’s, University of London, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists analysed 23 published studies and trials that enrolled 117,552 pregnant women vaccinated against Covid, to assess the safety of the shots.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/sd3g6fa

Plymouth maternity staff missed chances to save baby’s life, report finds

Giles Cooper-Hall died at Derriford hospital at 16 hours old after overstretched staff failed to carry out checks

A baby died after maternity staff repeatedly missed chances to intervene to save his life, an official investigation has found.

Giles Cooper-Hall was just 16 hours old when he died after a catalogue of errors in the maternity care of his mother, Ruth Cooper-Hall, at Derriford hospital in Plymouth.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/nvVK7z3

Turns out breastfeeding really does hurt – why does no one tell you? | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

I get that they don’t want to put us off, but there are many reasons people might have to stop. Guilt trips and secrecy don’t help

I never thought breastfeeding would be hard. When I thought about it at all, my mind conjured beatific scenes suffused with a sort of religious glow. There I was, genteelly offering the child a nipple in the manner of a renaissance Madonna, which the child accepted politely and cherubically. What a pretty picture we made.

Well, those preconceptions were – excuse my language – complete horseshit. These days I envisage more of a triptych: the infant Jesus spluttering at the breast, face purple with hangry fury; the infant Jesus possetting milk down Mary’s front; the infant Jesus and the nappy explosion.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2OKMaio

Tories urged not to betray working women by ditching employment bill

Fears flagship bill will be left out of Queen’s speech despite promise to fight sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination

A coalition of campaigners has urged the UK government not to betray working women by ditching its promises to clamp down on sexual harassment and workplace pregnancy discrimination in its flagship employment bill.

Before the Queen’s speech on Tuesday, campaigners are calling on the government to push forward with the bill, which was promised in 2019 and promoted as the way to protect UK workers after Britain left the EU.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/V8o6yia

‘Inclusive’ language on maternity care risks excluding many women | Letter

When discussing inherently sexed processes such as pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding, there are risks to desexing language, writes Prof Jenny Gamble

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett’s article emphasised the importance of respectful, individualised maternity care, including in the language used to address transgender people (The language of maternity is alive and well – so why not expand it to include trans parents, 5 May). This idea is entirely uncontroversial. What has become contentious, however, is whether terms like “women” and “mothers” should be used in a broader sense, including in health communication and policy or replaced with other words that do not reference the female sex.

It is a well-established principle of communication that the sex of individuals should be made visible when relevant and should not be made visible when not. This ensures that sex-related needs and issues are not overlooked and sex stereotyping is avoided. As I and others outline in a recent paper in Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, when discussing inherently sexed processes like pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding, there are risks to desexing language.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/0znCgLx

The language of maternity is alive and well – so why not expand it to include trans parents? | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

We could all do with a little more solidarity between those entering into parenthood, regardless of their gender

“Hey, Mama!” This is how I was greeted by a friendly member of staff every morning during my week-long stay in hospital after my baby’s birth. Theoretically, I had had my whole pregnancy to get used to the idea of being a mother in the eyes of the world, because almost immediately you become, to the professionals you interact with, “Mum”. As in: “could Mum pop herself up on the bed, please?” (Mums seem to do a lot of “popping”). But nonetheless, it was still surreal to feel my identity shift.

Meanwhile, the baby’s father wore a name tag that proclaimed: “I am [name]. I am husband.” It made me laugh, recalling as it did “I am woman, hear me roar”, or at least a labour ward version of that: “I am husband, hear me … ask politely once again for pethidine.”

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/eVRPZtO

UK government drops maternity charity after critical tweets

Group championing rights of new mothers and pregnant women removed after commenting on government’s lack of progress

A charity that champions the employment rights of pregnant women and new mothers has been dropped from a government advisory board after posting critical tweets.

In recent months, senior Tories including the culture secretary Nadine Dorries and her predecessor Oliver Dowden have taken pains to position themselves as champions of free speech, decrying “cancel culture”.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/F90iLo2