Black and Minority Ethnic Babies: Mortality Rates

Debate between Lord Sewell of Sanderstead and Lord Markham

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her Question and for her work in this space. I have tried to delve into the numbers. It seems that roughly half the reasons why black and ethnic minority people have higher death rates are to do with socioeconomic and lifestyle factors: where they live, levels of obesity, drinking, smoking and those sorts of factors. Clearly, behind that there is a lot that needs to be done in terms of education and support, folic acid in bread and folic acid generally. The other half is more to do with racial factors. English as a second language is a key thing behind that. I hate to make generalisations, but the fact that black and ethnic minority mothers can often be less assertive means that clearly there you need training of staff to take more time, listen more, make sure that they are understanding and asking the questions to find out whether the issues are there.

[Lord Sewell of Sanderstead (Con)]

My Lords, to what extent is the research programme of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities looking into this area of health disparities in childbirth and death in childbirth?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

The database from which all the evidence and data have come has just been published. That is exactly why we are publishing the database: so that we can understand the reasons behind it. We are also tying that to the NIHR to see what research is needed in those areas.