Have independent maternity service investigations taken an anti-racism or intersectional approach?

Independent investigations into failings in NHS maternity services have repeatedly exposed serious shortcomings in safety, quality, and organisational culture.

These reviews were intended to generate learning and drive improvements, but with so many issues linked to racial and socioeconomic inequities, failure to build this into inquiries risks perpetuating avoidable harm.

We conducted a document analysis of the three major independent investigations published over the past 15 years: Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury & Telford, and East Kent.

These high-profile, government commissioned reports were examined through an intersectional, antiracist lens to assess whether ethnicity, racism, and deprivation were meaningfully considered as drivers of maternal outcomes.