Proposed new guidelines that would see all pregnant women of colour in England offered interventions to speed up birth have been criticised as ‘racist’ by midwives and experts.
The draft advice, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), suggests that medics should ask all pregnant women of colour to consider being induced at 39 weeks.
Inducing labour can involve inserting a tablet into a woman’s vagina, or putting her on a hormonal drip, which accelerates and often intensifies contractions.
