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Miscarriage among black women - why aren't we being listened to ?

Health experts call for urgent research to find out why black women are at higher risk of miscarriage. Health clinicians say the situation is unacceptable.

Research shows black women are at a 40% higher risk of pregnancy loss than white women. It is an urgent problem, which the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says needs greater attention, with many complex reasons driving this higher risk. These include a lack of quality research involving all ethnicities - but RCOG head Dr Edward Morris says implicit racial bias is also affecting some women's experience of care.

Natasha has a little baby boy, called Judah. But before Judah arrived, she had suffered eight miscarriages. To talk about this takes a great deal of courage but for 5 Minutes On, Tulip Mazumdar – the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's global health correspondent - hears from two women who want to speak out and share their experiences of loss. After all an estimated 1 in 5 pregnancies end in miscarriage.

You can find organisations that provide advice, information and support for people affected by pregnancy loss on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Action Line website. Just go to bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Image Credit: ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News

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