At one point she was admitted to hospital due to complications with her placenta and was confronted by a doctor who seemed disgruntled by her choice to remain under observation.

“He said ‘Why are you in hospital? Are you worried about your baby dying?’. And I said ‘Yes, because I’ve been through it before’. His response was ‘Just go home, because even if you’re here, we won’t be able to save your baby’s life’. If I hadn’t experienced my previous miscarriages I would have just gone with what he said and I might have had a very different outcome.”

Zainab had befriended another woman on the ward who didn’t speak English as a first language, and who subsequently had a miscarriage after being discharged. “That same medical professional who had spoken quite aggressively to me also spoke to this person and told them to go home. When they came back, their baby had no heartbeat.” Looking back, she suspects her race has something to do with the way she was treated. “I just thought you don’t speak to people like that, it didn’t make sense.”

Funmi’s story

When we spoke to mum-of-one, Funmi*, she was 33 weeks pregnant with twins. “I was a bit ignorant when I had my first baby, but as the years have gone on I’ve read all these different stories about Black mothers dying, c-sections going wrong and stillbirths. It got me to start researching those things more, especially now that I’m having twins.

“I’m constantly reminded that every risk is possible and every complication can happen so it’s made me more aware of the risks. Now I’m anxious about what happens post-birth as I’ve read about women bleeding out and haemorrhaging.

“I also have a friend who had a baby where I’ll be giving birth. She was very clear that once you’re on the ward after the baby comes out, they’re not listening to anything you have to say if you’re Black, and that scares me. She felt like compared to the other ladies on the ward she was ignored the most.”

In order to help settle her fears, Funmi has spoken candidly to her doctors about her concerns. “I’ve been very clear with my consultants about my anxiety around my race. They’re aware of how I feel and they’re with me through to my delivery so I hope it’s something that they’ll express to the rest of the team when the babies come.”

Tosin’s story

Tosin moved to the UK from Nigeria three years ago. She gave birth to her first child in 2024 following a miscarriage the year prior. “As an immigrant, falling pregnant and then trying to navigate the NHS system is a big deal. I thought that when you get pregnant you go to the hospital and you’re supposed to get checked. But I didn’t get any checks, I didn’t get a call.