Speaking to openDemocracy, Hall described how significantly higher maternal mortality rates among women of colour in the UK are the result of structural racism, including racial stereotypes that have long rebounded through neonatal units.
“I was taught that ‘Asian women behaved like princesses’ when they were in labour – always overreacting, because they’re ‘wimps’, basically.” That Scandinavian women “are the best at giving birth, built really great, did really well” and that “Black women have got pelvises that make them labour for a long time,” Hall said.
The result of these attitudes, she explained, was that Asian women were taken less seriously when they described being in pain, while “Black women are left to labour in pain for longer.”
Women of colour experience significantly worse outcomes from pregnancy than white women in the UK, including being much more likely to die in childbirth. However, one expert (who wished to remain anonymous) told openDemocracy that the proposed guidelines amount to “taking a problem with the system, and society and racism, and blaming it on the individuals”.
“Most women in the world are people of colour,” she added. “The idea that they all need to be induced is absurd.”
‘A lot of coercion’
Although NICE’s draft guidelines only suggest that women should ‘consider’ inductions, “people will pretty much feel under pressure, [they] will just do it,” said Maria Booker from the campaign group Birthrights, which works to protect human rights in childbirth.
“We all know what ‘offer’ looks like in practice,” added Hall. “In practice, if you offer a woman [an intervention], they’ll think ‘I should take it’. People are going to end up going for it. There is going to be a lot of coercion.”
And once women have been induced, it “significantly reduces their choices”, she said, pointing out that women who have been induced often can’t safely give birth at home or in more comfortable midwife-led units, and are instead confined to hospital wards, which many find a more stressful experience.