Five X More CIC is a grassroots organisation committed to changing and highlighting Black maternal health outcomes in the UK.
From 22 – 28 April 2024, its weeklong campaign will be dedicated to raising awareness about the disparities in maternal outcomes for Black women and birthing people.
Black women in the UK are 3.6 times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth in comparison to white women (MBRRACE, 2022). BMHAW focuses on empowering Black women and birthing people to make informed choices and advocate for themselves throughout their pregnancies and after childbirth. It also focuses on educating health professionals to take active steps to ensure safer care for Black women and birthing people.
Bliss, the UK’s leading charity for babies born premature and sick, has partnered with Five X More for a designed neonatal focus as part of this year’s BMHAW, to raise awareness of neonatal care.
Tinuke, Co-Founder of Five X More, said: “Five X More is proud to work with Bliss to bring awareness of the experiences Black families go through within neonatal care. It’s an important topic and education piece that should be discussed and highlighted before babies end up in the neonatal ward to help parents prepare.”
On Wednesday 24 April, Bliss’ Information and Support Manager Annelies Hopkins will be speaking at the meeting of the APPG on Black Maternal Health to mark the week, and on 26 April, six pieces of new digital content will be shared across Bliss’ and Five X More’s social channels.
Caroline Lee-Davey, Chief Executive of Bliss, said: “We are delighted to partner with Five X More to raise awareness of neonatal care during Black Maternal Health Awareness Week, a crucial campaign to shine a light on the experiences of Black parents.
“Sadly, we know that there are health inequalities amongst Black newborn babies, just as there are amongst their mothers: for example, babies born to Black mothers have a significantly higher risk of pre-term birth, and of perinatal mortality.
“Bliss is committed to doing everything we can to improve care for all babies born premature or sick, and our 2024 manifesto sets out our priorities to address neonatal inequalities, which are for the next government: to invest in research specifically to understand more about neonatal inequity and how to prevent it; to commit to setting specific targets to reduce inequalities in the rates of neonatal death, pre-term birth and newborn brain injury; and to appoint a National Neonatal Safety Champion with a clear remit to reduce inequities in neonatal mortality and outcomes.
“We know that we can only reach our goals in this area through working in partnership with brilliant organisations like Five X More, and we look forward to working closely with them for this year’s BMHAW and in future.”
