An evaluation of the second training cohort of Black Maternity Matters demonstrates the programme has successfully helped maternity and neonatal staff in the West of England to increase their knowledge, skills and confidence in both understanding the impacts of racism and how it penetrates healthcare institutions.
Black women in the UK remain more likely to experience serious maternal health and mental health complications. The Black Maternity Matters training and education programme has been designed to support perinatal teams to reduce the inequitable maternity outcomes faced by Black mothers and their babies.
The Black Maternity Matters collaborative was established in 2021 by Health Innovation West of England, BCohCo, Representation Matters and Black Mothers Matter, working closely with the maternal and neonatal community across the region.
Funded by the Health Foundation through the Q Exchange programme, Black Maternity Matters was piloted in 2022 in Bristol. Learning from the pilot evaluation was used to make refinements to delivery of training with future cohorts, particularly around support in using quality improvement (QI) tools and approaches to deliver actionable change.
This evaluation focuses on the second phase of Black Maternity Matters delivered in 2023, which aimed to build on this learning from the pilot.
The six-month programme combined in-person anti-racist training, online book club sessions and QI support. It was open to a range of staff from across the maternity system in the West of England, incorporating four hospital trusts, three integrated care systems and staff from community NHS trusts.
The evaluation found that by offering a personalised and psychologically safe training environment, Black Maternity Matters has taken staff on a learning journey unlike anything most had experienced previously.
Key findings from the evaluation showed:
- A demonstrated ‘Dunning-Kruger effect’, with staff initially overestimating their cultural competence in 28 out of 31 areas, highlighting the need for targeted training.
- Increased confidence among staff to recognise and address racism, with a 23% increase in psychological readiness to implement anti-racist practice.
- High levels of participant motivation and a shift toward meaningful action, including team-level change initiatives.
- Strong endorsement of the safe, reflective learning environment, with many describing the training as “life-changing” and distinct from prior equality, diversity, and inclusion courses.
Achieving sustained and sustainable change on the impacts of racism depends on the abilities of those within healthcare systems to both recognise and respond to the root causes.
Better knowledge and skills need to be transferred into actionable change; by offering embedded QI approaches and support, staff taking part in Black Maternity Matters are given the tools by which they can begin to practically address racism in their work.
In adopting a complexity mindset, the evaluation shows that Black Maternity Matters has effectively responded to feedback and evolved in its design to avoid binary or reductive thinking with simplistic toolkits or tick box approaches through a commitment to ongoing collaboration, experimentation, and learning.
To find out more about Black Maternity Matters, please email healthinnowest.blackmaternitymatters@nhs.net.
Posted on May 1, 2025
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