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Faith for a Safe Start
Pre-Launch Event
On Monday 9th September 2024, we held a pre-launch event at the House of Lords, hosted by the Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally and featuring Wendy Olayiwola, NHS England’s National Maternity Lead for Equity.
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Introduction by Bishop Sarah
We offer our thanks to the Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally for hosting us at the House of Lords.
Bishop Sarah reflected on her own experience as a faith minister and nurse in understanding the longstanding health inequalities faced by BAME communities, which became even more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She stressed the need for a systematic approach that integrates faith communities into efforts to reduce these disparities as faith participation is higher where inequalities are high.
"In every community there is a faith group, and it is true that faith participation is likely to be higher in those communities that are more deprived ... and whilst government picks up the role of faith in crisis ... what is really clear is that faith groups are involved in caring for their communities in terms of health and wellbeing all the time ... I have committed to work with them to try and bring that more systematic involvement of faith groups in the provision of health and care because I believe it’s not just good for faith groups and communities but also for the NHS and local government ..."
Wendy Olayiwola, NHS England National Maternity Lead for Equity
Wendy outlined the ongoing disparities in maternity care for BAME mothers, including higher rates of premature births and infant mortality for Black babies and increased rates of gestational diabetes for Asian women.
She highlighted that while these issues are well-known, action must now follow and that the skillful workforce can provide personalise care, stating ‘the women in front of us are experts’.
Wendy explained that her pastor was among the first people who knew that she was pregnant. She told of her own poor experiences of the maternity journey, despite being educated in maternal health care and her husband being an obstetrician.
She emphasized the crucial role faith leaders play in bridging gaps between maternity services and communities, as these leaders often have the trust of their congregants.
"That culturally sensitive care, that personalised care, is key ... the women in front of us, as healthcare professionals, are the experts, they are the experts of their pregnancy. We need to listen to them, we need to hear them."
The Faith for a Safe Start campaign
Jeremy Simmons, Policy and Programme Manager at FaithAction detailed our work in addressing these inequalities, highlighting the need to listen to the experiences of women of faith during their maternity journeys.
FaithAction will be launching a toolkit later this year as part of the Faith for a Safe Start campaign, which will help faith leaders engage with their communities and raise awareness of these issues, sparking collaborative initiatives.
"We saw such great partnership work between faith communities and health systems during the pandemic ... our initial question was: could some of the energy and ingenuity be applied to another area of longstanding inequality?"
Involvement of local faith communities
Representatives from various faith organizations, including the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) and Alive Church in Lincoln, shared how they are working to integrate faith with maternity care.
These efforts involve translating communications, appointing maternity champions within congregations, and organizing antenatal classes in community spaces like mosques.
"The conversation we’re having here must centre around faith, and that sounds obvious but when we’re talking about inequalities, the data doesn’t talk about faith ... we have to be brave enough to say this conversation needs to also be about faith."
"When we talk about faith we normally talk in terms of a deficit, this is a problem, these are barriers ... when was the last time we talked about this through the lens of innovation ... of course there are issues ... but there is also much strength in these communities, and we don’t do that justice."
Cultural competency and faith sensitivity
Dr. Salman Waqar, President of the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA), highlighted the importance of talking explicitly about “faith” in terms of inequalities, and not just about ethnicity, and deprivation.
He also spoke of the need to ensure healthcare workers are trained to recognise the role of faith in maternity care, along with bringing a little more of themselves into consultation room to support some faith-based interventions in the NHS.
This involves asking pregnant women about any spiritual needs they may have during their birthing journey and considering cultural safety, beyond just racial or ethnic concerns.
"We’ve heard of these national initiatives, and from our perspective within our community we’ve felt a conviction to think, you know what, there are a group of women, and their families and their children, who aren’t being heard. What in our context can we do to bring about change?"
"We’ve taken the discussion with FaithAction, and utilising the toolkit, thinking, how can we localise this national initiative?"
Successful intervention in Lincoln
Sarah Bell and Lois Delong of Alive Church, are involved in leading a programme of work in partnership with Alive Church in Lincoln, exploring how bringing together local stakeholders can address particular inequalities experienced.
With 42 nationalities in the Lincoln centre alone and many obstetricians and GPs, many people felt able to give real-life stories of birthing as part of the BAME communities.
Alive Church have decided to have a maternity champion within the congregation and highlighted that only an organic programme can reach into the communities of those affected.
"Faith is the rock in many people’s lives, it guides their decisions, their actions, their thoughts, their feelings ... their sense of self ... Wendy made light of her pastor being the first person to know she was pregnant, but actually, that was the right thing for her in that circumstance and it’s not for anyone else to say that’s not the right thing to do."
The NHS response
Kate Brintworth, Chief Midwifery Officer for England, discussed the need for an anti-racism framework and leadership development to address inequalities.
She welcomes the government manifesto for reducing inequalities and outcomes and acknowledges that not knowing everything means we must humbly submit to the art of learning and adapting, considering diversity and asking what each local system needs.
Listening to voices at every level to build solutions is critical for reducing disparities.
Comments from stakeholders
We heard a range of comments and contributions from faith leaders, senior executives in maternity and midwifery, other healthcare professionals and people with lived experience.
"Millions of people subscribe to a faith in the UK ... and the faith of that woman has an impact on how she experiences care being given, and that does actually have contributions to make in terms of inequality ..."
"What our nurses and midwives told us that that they felt they couldn’t bring their authentic self to the workplace. Imagine if you spend most of your life at work and you ... can’t be yourself. And actually their faith was the thing that ... they held on to it was the thing that got them through in a time of crisis..."
"Pregnancy and childbirth is a very difficult area for people, especially midwives, to begin to talk about faith ... especially around screening, so I hope that this toolkit is going to have a lot of PR around it, that will talk about the benefits of faith in health and reducing inequalities..."
Audience Q&A and reflections
Valuable points were raised about the practical steps needed to integrate faith into maternity care.
Suggestions included creating space for religious practices in birthing rooms and recognising the role of faith in earlier holistic healthcare, acknowledging the charitable sector as a legitimate NHS partner, and allowing nurses and midwives to bring their authentic selves to the workplace is an intervention to be worked on.
White allyship was also highlighted as another avenue for support of the cause.
Summary
The event provided a strong foundation for future action, with a clear focus on collaboration between faith groups and healthcare providers to ensure culturally sensitive and equitable maternity care for all.
Key themes included:
- The need to enable the faith identity to be acknowledged in the maternity space, both for the NHS workforce, and for patients.
- A call to start talking about “faith inequalities”, not just in terms of ethnicity, deprivation, and other characteristics.
- The importance of tailored, grassroots responses, adapted to local populations and local needs.
We welcome you to get in touch regarding the toolkit, campaign or event, and look forward to working with you all in tackling maternal inequalities and beyond!
Get involved
Leave us your email and you’ll be the first to know when we release more information about the Faith for a Safe Start campaign!
This resource was developed by FaithAction, a national network of faith-based organisations.