ArticleBMC public health2023
Inside the 'imperfect mosaic': Minority ethnic women's qualitative experiences of race and ethnicity during pregnancy, childbirth, and maternity care in the United Kingdom.
Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Women's experiences of maternity care in high-income countries during the pandemic health system shock: a follow-up systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- The Impact of Culture on Access to and Utilisation of Maternity Care Amongst Muslim Women in High-Income Countries: A Qualitative Systematic Review.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions to Address Disparities in Perinatal Outcomes by Ethnicity: A Systematic Review.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Pooled it
- Understanding care-seeking of pregnant women from underserved groups: a systematic review and meta-ethnography.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Psychological Interventions Targeting Maternal Role Development and Identity in Perinatal Mental Health: A Systematic Review with Qualitative Synthesis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Setting the research priorities for pregnancy scanning: a nationally coproduced vision with expectant women, the public and healthcare professionals.The British journal of radiology · 2026Article
- Patient-centred postpartum care provision: virtual delivery, tiered escalation, and tensions between efficiency, preference, and clinical concern.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Government Response to the House of Lords Inquiry Into Preterm Birth: A Commentary on the Gaps in Maternal Mental Healthcare.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Article
- Does neonatal care delivery in England and Wales vary by deprivation and ethnicity: a retrospective cohort study.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Observational
- Intersectionality and Long Covid: Understanding the Lived Experiences of Ethnic Minority Groups in the United Kingdom.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Evaluation of a participatory action project to improve safety and outcomes in maternity care.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Beyond birth support: how doulas navigate anti-racism advocacy for refugee and asylum-seeking women in UK maternity care.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- A consensus statement on child and family health during the COVID-19 pandemic and recommendations for post-pandemic recovery and re-build.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
- Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for women who suffered early pregnancy losses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Freedom for some, but not for Mum: the reproductive injustice associated with pandemic 'Freedom Day' for perinatal women in the United Kingdom.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- A consensus statement on perinatal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and recommendations for post-pandemic recovery and re-build.Frontiers in global women's health · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPersistent, high rates of maternal mortality amongst ethnic minorities is one of the UK's starkest examples of racial disparity. With greater risks of adverse outcomes during maternity care, ethnic minority women are subjected to embedded, structural and systemic discrimination throughout the healthcare service.
methodsFourteen semi-structured interviews were undertaken with minority ethnic women who had recent experience of UK maternity care. Data pertaining to ethnicity and race were subject to iterative, inductive coding, and constant comparison through Grounded Theory Analysis to test a previously established theory: The 'Imperfect Mosaic'. ANALYSIS &
findingsA related theory emerged, comprising four themes: 'Stopping Short of Agentic Birth'; 'Silenced and Stigmatised through Tick-Box Care'; 'Anticipating Discrimination and the Need for Advocacy'; and 'Navigating Cultural Differences'. The new theory: Inside the 'Imperfect Mosaic', demonstrates experiences of those who received maternity care which directly mirrors experiences of those who provide care, as seen in the previous theory we set-out to test. However, the current theory is based on more traditional and familiar notions of racial discrimination, rather than the nuanced, subtleties of socio-demographic-based micro-aggressions experienced by healthcare professionals.
conclusionsOur findings suggest the need for the following actions: Prioritisation of bodily autonomy and agency in perinatal physical and mental healthcare; expand awareness of social and cultural issues (i.e., moral injury; cultural safety) within the NHS; and undertake diversity training and support, and follow-up of translation of the training into practice, across (maternal) health services.
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