IBHO's aim is to improve health outcomes for all Black African and Caribbean people living in the UK by improving our knowledge and understanding of health conditions and the impact they have on people from these communities. The BioResource also has a new focus on maternal health and through IBHO, we can prioritise the vitally important topic of Black maternal health. The statistics surrounding the experience of Black women in maternity and maternal healthcare are sobering: Black women are 3.7 times more likely to die than white women in childbirth, Black mothers are more likely to have postnatal depression and are less likely to access support for this than their white counterparts.
Black mothers have not had their voices considered when maternal healthcare has been shaped, meaning that services and support do not focus on many of the issues and barriers that have greater impacts for Black mothers.
To ensure we include the voices of people with lived experiences of Black maternal health and care in shaping our programme, in March 2026 we supported the Black Maternal Heath Conference as a Headline Partner. Organised by The Motherhood Group, the conference, now in its 10th year, brings together mothers, allies, healthcare professionals, charities, organisations, policymakers and students from across the country, providing an important platform to discuss issues that Black mothers experience. Importantly, the conference also focuses on what needs to be done to improve Black maternal health and wellbeing during and after pregnancy.
We ran a co-creation activity at the conference to capture insights and views from the Black maternal health community about what IBHO and the NIHR BioResource can do to address some of the issues and inequalities Black mothers face during pregnancy, childbirth and beyond. We once again worked with the excellent team at QCast, who have previously supported us with the co-creation activity for our All in Focus initiative, to capture views and experiences of Black maternal health. We heard from a wide range of attendees: Black mothers with direct experience, fathers, brothers and other male allies, community leaders, and professionals from research, healthcare and policy backgrounds. We set up multiple booths where attendees could answer a series of questions about their thoughts on health and wellbeing for Black mothers and what more needs to be done to support Black African and Caribbean women during and after pregnancy.
We had a phenomenal response, with over 70 people taking the time to come to our booth and provide their views. Attendees spoke candidly about their own experiences of maternal health, or brought their perspectives as healthcare workers or community champions.
Natasha Subi — Community Advocate and conference attendee said:
"It's down to hearing these mothers — and not just hearing them, but actually coming up with solutions. We know the statistics. The statistics are not nice. But it's time to move from knowing to doing"
The BioResource works by connecting our participants to approved research studies. We will now analyse the insights we received from attendees at the conference and use them to inform and shape our strategy, understand how the NIHR BioResource and IBHO can overcome some of the barriers mentioned and ensure Black African and Caribbean people are represented in research, including on maternal health.
Some key themes are already starting to emerge, which include:
- hesitancy to trust the research process due to past experience or historic injustices that have had huge impacts for Black African and Caribbean people
- a need for more clarity on what data is collected in research, how it used and by who, how secure it is and what governance and safeguards are in place to protect the data
- the power of community and safe spaces where people can have their views listened to and appropriate action taken. This includes the vital role that allies have, which include researchers, healthcare professionals including doctors and midwives, and men and partners of Black mothers
Vicky Hills, Research Volunteer Recruitment Manager and IBHO programme lead, NIHR BioResource said:
“Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to our co‑creation activity. It was a privilege to be part of a conference that held such joy, warmth and togetherness, while also creating space for difficult but necessary conversations.
"The insights shared with us, which were often rooted in deeply personal experiences, will play an important role in helping us continue to shape and strengthen our programmes.”
We are hugely grateful to all the attendees who contributed and brought their authentic and sometimes vulnerable stories to us. Also, a massive thank you to The Motherhood Group for creating a platform to safely and candidly discuss this important topic, and to QCast for providing their expertise for our co-creation activity.
We will be bringing more news about what we’ve learned from this event and how we will be implementing the views over the coming weeks and months. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram for all the latest news and updates from across the IBHO programme.
