BIMA calls for faith-informed, equitable maternity care following national maternity reviews The British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) welcomes the publication of the Amos Maternity Review and acknowledges the findings of the recently published Ockenden review. Together, these reports add to an increasingly consistent body of evidence demonstrating that too many women continue to experience unsafe, inequitable and undignified maternity care.

Across successive national inquiries, findings consistently show that that women have not been listened to, concerns have been dismissed and opportunities to escalate care were missed. These are not simply issues of communication, they are significant patient safety failures that are undermining trust between women and maternity services.

Women from global majority communities continue to experience poorer maternity outcomes and poorer experiences of care. The reviews identify persistent barriers including cultural misunderstanding, stereotyping, communication failures, unequal power dynamics and inadequate use of interpreters. These barriers reduce women’s ability to seek help, advocate for themselves and participate fully in decisions about their care.

The reviews also highlight the experiences of healthcare professionals working within maternity services. Muslim and other global majority doctors, midwives and wider maternity staff may themselves experience discrimination, exclusion and barriers to speaking up, creating environments that undermine both staff wellbeing and patient safety. Delivering equitable maternity care therefore requires not only improving women’s experiences but also fostering an inclusive workplace culture in which all healthcare professionals are supported to provide safe, compassionate care.

Whilst we welcome the recognition of cultural inequity, BIMA believes the reports also expose an important gap. Safe and equitable maternity care must recognise faith as an integral part of many women’s identity and healthcare experience. For Muslim women and many other women of faith, pregnancy, childbirth and bereavement are deeply shaped by religious beliefs and practices. Respect for modesty, informed choice, family involvement, spiritual support, female clinician preferences where possible, and timely faith-sensitive bereavement care are not optional extras, they are fundamental aspects of dignified, person-centred care. These concerns are not new. Muslim women, community organisations and advocates, including Baroness Shaista Gohir OBE and the Muslim Women’s Network UK, have highlighted the inequalities experienced by women from ethnic minority and faith communities for many years. Successive national reports continue to reinforce many of these concerns. The NHS does not lack evidence of the problem; but it urgently must address it, this requires sustained implementation, accountability and meaningful partnership with the communities it serves.

BIMA is particularly concerned by the continued evidence that women from minority backgrounds are less likely to feel heard within maternity services. Every maternity report over the past decade has reinforced the same principle: listening to women saves lives. Failure to listen must be recognised as a patient safety risk and addressed with the same urgency as any other clinical safety concern.

To deliver truly equitable maternity care, BIMA calls for:

• Embedding faith-informed maternity care within national quality standards and guidance.
• Recognising failure to listen as a patient safety event requiring organisational learning.
• Mandatory education for maternity staff on anti-racism, cultural competence and religious literacy, including understanding the needs of Muslim women.
• Co-designing maternity services with Muslim women and other underserved communities.
• Improving bereavement pathways to ensure culturally and faith-sensitive care for families experiencing pregnancy or infant loss.
• Strengthening diversity across the maternity workforce and leadership to better reflect the communities served.
• Creating psychologically safe, inclusive working environments where Muslim and other global majority healthcare professionals are supported, heard and able to raise concerns without fear of discrimination or disadvantage.
• Improving the collection and reporting of patient experience data, including faith, language needs and other drivers of inequality.

At BIMA, our mission is to empower, unite and support Muslim healthcare professionals to build healthier and more equitable communities. We remain committed to working constructively with NHS organisations, professional bodies, policymakers and community partners to ensure that every woman, regardless of ethnicity, faith or background, receives safe, compassionate and equitable maternity care.

The evidence is now overwhelming. The priority must be action.