While racial inequalities in maternal care are persistent across the UK, there is a lack of research that aims to uncover the racialisation processes in maternal care that results in these inequalities. With racialisation processes we mean the various explicit and implicit processes that produce racism at the organisational and policy level and in healthcare interactions. In our project, we aim to contribute to an antiracist maternal care through uncovering these racialisation processes that have devastating material impacts on the lives of racially minoritised people.
About the project
The project runs in the UK from June 2024 to May 2026 and in Sweden from 1st of January 2024 to 31st of December 2026.
Project’s purpose and aim
The overall purpose of the project is to identify the processes of racialisation that results in discriminatory practices in maternal care in the UK. We would like to examine and understand how structural racism is manifested in maternal care and how racism effects access to care. We aim to use this knowledge to design antiracist frameworks in maternal care together with racially minoritised women, healthcare staff and other relevant stakeholder working in maternal care.
How does the study work?
The project comprises of a data collection phase and a co-production phase that runs parallely. The data collection part comprises of three data collection methodologies as follows:
Study 1: A qualitative online survey which is open for racially minoritised people and or their partners who have experienced racism in maternal care in the UK.
Study 2: Qualitative interviews with healthcare staff working in maternal care as well as racially minoritised women with experience of racism in maternal care in the UK.
News and Updates
Latest news and research results.
- The qualitative survey has opened for participants in the UK (as of October 2026).
- Study 2 is ongoing: We are looking for racially minoritised women and healthcare staff with experiences of/thoughts about racism in UK maternity care who want to be interviewed individually.
- Fatumo represents EMBARC in the reference group for the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare's government mission to counteract and prevent racism in healthcare, dental care and social services, as well as in the reference group for RFUS's project Equality in Childbirth together with Sarah Hamed.
- Elin and Maja presented the EMBARC project at RFSU's Stroller March in Uppsala in September 2025 and at the Nordic Midwifery Conference in Copenhagen in May 2025.
- 2025-02-12 Sarah has participated in the workshop: From Data to Action: Leveraging Community Research to Drive Equity in Black Maternal Care by Maternity Engagement Action in Birmingham.
- Sarah has presented the EMBARC project for Lambeth Heart in London.
- 2025-04-11 Sarah has participated in the podcast: The Sex, Research & Resistance Podcast, Part 1: Dignity in Maternity Care and Part 2: Dignity in Maternity Care.
- 2025-01-20 Publication in the International Journal for Equity in Health: Arcilla, J.T., Nanou, A., Hamed, S. et al. Racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care: a scoping review.
