Reducing Black maternal health inequalities: building health, wellbeing and real solutions together

News!! We launched up to £1.5m of funding for multiyear grants of up to three years (2026 – 2029) that will fund projects seeking to improve experiences and outcomes for Black mothers, birthing people, and their babies.

Organisations were invited to submit proposals against eleven solution areas that were generated at workshop held in Brixton in June, which were then scored and prioritised by the programme’s Expert Reference Group, which includes Experts by Experience, Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise leaders, academics and NHS clinicians and commissioners.

The Expression of Interest (EOI) closed on 10 January 2026. While the scoring, shortlisting and allocation of funding are still ongoing, further updates will be provided via the the funding website here. We will update the current page once we have confirmed the projects we will be funding.

How you can get involved?

We have recruited a group of Lived Experience Consultants who are supporting the grant making stage of this programme and will continue to be involved in oversight of delivery by joining our Expert Reference Group. As part of our participatory governance approach, we will hold periodic public meetings where we will update on progress and challenges, and invite questions on our partnership and the projects we have funded. If you would like to be kept informed about these events please complete the sign-up form at the bottom of the page.

Background

While the UK remains one of the safest places in the world to give birth, Black women and birthing people experience health inequalities in maternity and neonatal services. Data shows that Black women and birthing people are more likely to die in childbirth, more likely to have a traumatic birth, and report poorer experiences of maternity and neonatal care.

NHS South East London and Impact on Urban Health have formed a partnership that seeks to work with communities to re-build trust and find and fund solutions to these inequalities. We will bring together Black mothers and birthing people with maternity and neonatal services in South East London to collectively decide on and deliver fully funded pilot interventions.

Black Maternal Health Expert Reference Group

This work is guided by a South East London Black Maternal Health Expert Reference Group made up of local Black mothers and birthing people, leaders of community organisations, and clinicians and service managers from the NHS. Membership of the Group includes representatives from The Motherhood Group, 5 X MORE, Kings College Maternity & Neonatal Voices Partnership, Kings College London, and Lambeth Together, as well as NHS providers including Guys & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Lewisham & Greenwich Trust, and South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

How we are listening to Black mothers and birthing people?

Our early conversations with Black mothers and other experts revealed that many feel a lot of listening has already been done and that there is extensive data, insight and other evidence collected to diagnose the problems Black women, birthing people, and their babies experience. Overwhelmingly we were told the time was overdue for action and funding to translate this knowledge into meaningful, positive change.

For this reason, we started our project with a solutions-focused workshop that brought together Black mothers and birthing people with NHS staff to collectively decide on solutions that were then further developed with our Black Maternal Health Expert Reference Group.

The Reducing Black Maternal Health Inequalities workshop took place on 19th June 2025, at the Liberation Centre in Brixton. Facilitated by JRNY Consulting and Black Mothers Matter, the event aimed to co-design real solutions to the healthcare inequalities Black mothers and birthing people face in maternity and neonatal care. These solutions were further developed, scored and came to form the basis for a grant-making opportunity launched in November 2025, with a focus on community-led delivery.

The facilitators adopted a compassionate approach and were supported by a local artistic facilitator Moi Tu, helping participants to feel safe and generate a good number of relevant solutions across all stages of the maternity and neonatal journey. Watch this short video to learn more about our workshop.

You can read a briefing document providing an overview of the workshop and solutions-design phase of this programme of work. It may be of particular interest to individuals and organisations with an interest in applying for funding to deliver the work.