In September last year, I joined Five X More to found the All Party-Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Black Maternal Health. This month saw our first public meeting in Parliament as we discussed the progress made since Five X More founders Clotilde Abe and Atinuke Awe first launched their campaign in 2018. They did amazingly to get their petition debated in Parliament without any real source of funding income for their organisation.

One panellist at the event put it perfectly: “we’ve raised awareness, we need action.” We know the suboptimal conditions and barriers Black women and birthing people face in maternity care. We know Black women feel the impact of chronic NHS midwifery shortages and retention issues most acutely. We now need a commitment from the Government to set a binding target to tackle the crisis in NHS midwifery and end lethal health inequalities.