Successful co-production can help tackle inequalities in maternal health outcomes

Findings from the MBRRACE-UK report published in October 2023 are a stark reminder of persistent inequalities in birth outcomes for women from ethnic minorities in the UK.1 In 2019-21, the risk of maternal death was 3.8 times higher among black women and 1.8 times higher among Asian women compared with white women in the UK.1 Despite several calls to end inequalities through individualised high quality care and targeted interventions, women from ethnic minority groups often feel they are not listened to or have rarely been asked about solutions.2 That's why it's so important to involve women from ethnic minorities in developing interventions if we want to improve outcomes and patient care. Public involvement is recognised as important in both health service delivery and research design and delivery.234 Uptake and initiation of timely antenatal care is vital in ensuring good perinatal outcomes for women and babies. The MBRRACE-UK report showed that the proportion of women who received recommended levels of antenatal care were low among those who died.1 Women from some ethnic minority groups tend to attend antenatal care later.5 In order to increase the timely uptake of antenatal care in an ethnically diverse and socio-economically disadvantaged area, a project team that I led developed a community-based intervention using a co-production approach.6 The goal was to co-produce a tailored intervention best suited to meet the needs of a diverse …