Black women in the United Kingdom are four times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth than white women

Collaborators:

background

Black women in the United Kingdom are four times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth than white women; Asian and mixed-race women are twice as likely. This is a persistent inequality in maternal outcome is an urgent human rights issue.

the problem

No action has been taken by the UK Government or the NHS to reduce the staggering racial disparity in maternal health

The UK Government and NHS acknowledge the racial disparity in maternal health, however, they have yet to introduce a target to end the gap in maternal mortality between Black women and white women. Furthermore, in September 2022, the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care scrapped the government’s long-promised White Paper on health inequalities. Shelving the Health Disparities White Paper significantly undermines commitments made by the Government in the aspirational Women’s Health Strategy and will slow any progress made by the newly-appointed Maternity Disparities Taskforce. Urgent and immediate action must be taken to address it.

INSIGHT

Public Awareness

Public awareness, NHS campaigning and petitioning have worked in the past. For example, in 2007, Cancer Research UK presented a petition signed by over a quarter of a million people to Parliament, calling for cancer to be placed at the top of the Government agenda. Soon after, the Government launched a new cancer plan for England. Many white people are simply unaware of the racial disparities in maternal health. This awareness campaign could bolster involvement and activism in this movement with the aim to pressure the UK Government to maintain their commitment to publishing this vital White Paper by the end of this year as planned.

INSIGHT

I came up with the following conclusions

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Audience Research

AUDIENCE Research

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Our campaign

The start of one life shouldn't mean the end of another

A poignant campaign film that viscerally reveals the extent of the racial maternal disparity in the UK and its tragic consequences.

View the storyboard below.

The film will use a principle in a cinema called the Kuleshov Effect, whereby the audience derives new interpretations from the sequence of images presented.

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Act 1- Starts out as a typical birthing story. A black woman strains whilst giving birth.

Act 2- We hear the cry of a baby. We see tears being shed. Family holds each other.

Act 3- We see the limp hand of the mother. The camera zooms out and we see the husband cradling her body. A baby lies in a crib beside the hospital bed. A family member sits on the floor devastated.

A disorientating flashback of the chaos and confusion that led to her death plays. We see nurses rush past, rubber gloves covered in blood, a blood pressure monitor spikes, beeps and finally flatlines.

After this last image we cut abruptly to the hospital door. The audience is left outside to questioning what has happened.

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The last frame simply states 'In the UK Black women are four times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth than white women, yet the UK Government and NHS have yet to set a target to end this disparity'. 'In September 2022, the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care scrapped the government’s long-promised White Paper on health inequalities. Shelving the Health Disparities White Paper significantly undermining the Government's commitment to Women's Health. Urgent and immediate action is needed. Join us in pressuring the UK Government to maintain their commitment to publishing this vital White Paper by the end of this year as planned.'

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Act 1: A typical birthing story. A black woman strains whilst giving birth.

Act 2: We hear the cry of a baby. We see tears being shed. Family holds each other.