Black maternal health in the UK: Elkan’s Light working to prevent preventable loss

There is a reason we called this part of Elkan’s Light the Street Clinic.

Hospitals have clinics. Trusts have governance meetings. Boards have strategies. But most of the real conversations about pregnancy, fear, risk and loss happen somewhere else: in WhatsApp chats, church foyers, hair salons, school gates, food banks, shisha cafés, youth clubs, college corridors and crowded living rooms.

Street Clinic is our way of taking maternity safety out of the boardroom and into those spaces, especially for Black, Asian and other families who bear the brunt of the worst outcomes.

“We are not asking people to come to us with perfect language. We are coming to them, in their language.”

The problem we’re trying to solve

If you look at the national numbers, the story is brutal and simple:

• Black women in the UK are still far more likely to die during pregnancy and birth than white women.

• Families in the most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to experience stillbirth or neonatal death as those in the least deprived areas.

• The same themes come up again and again in investigations: women not being listened to, symptoms downplayed, risk factors missed, escalation too slow, racism and bias in how care is delivered.

Those headlines are everywhere. But for many of us, they land like this:

“Okay… but what does that actually mean for me, in my clinic, with my midwife, in my postcode?”

Street Clinic is our attempt to answer that question in a way that feels real, practical and local.

We are better together

What Street Clinic actually is

Street Clinic is a series of blog posts, videos, live Q&As and in‑person sessions where we:

• break down maternity safety issues in plain language

• answer real questions from women, partners and families

• offer scripts and actions, not just awareness

• talk honestly about racism, class, culture and faith in healthcare

• spotlight what good care looks like, so people know what to expect and demand

Each Street Clinic has three pillars:

1. Story - a real scenario from our own experience or from families who’ve trusted us with theirs.

2. System - what should have happened according to guidance and good practice.

3. Script - the actual words you can use if you find yourself in the same situation.

We don’t just say “advocate for yourself”. We show you how.

Street Clinic in action: an example

Imagine this:

You’ve had a LLETZ procedure in the past. You’re pregnant. At booking, you mention it. Someone writes it down. Weeks go by. No one talks to you about preterm birth risk. No one mentions a specialist clinic. You assume everything must be fine.

In too many stories, including ours, that’s exactly what happened.

In Street Clinic, we would walk through that scenario step by step:

• What LLETZ is and why it matters in pregnancy

• What should normally happen; referral to a preterm birth clinic, possible cervical length scans, extra monitoring

• What to ask and say if those steps don’t happen:

  “I’ve had a LLETZ procedure. I understand this can raise my risk of preterm birth. Can you refer me to a preterm birth clinic or explain clearly why not? Please record this conversation in my notes.”

We put that wording on the blog, on Instagram, on a wallet card, in a downloadable PDF, in a YouTube description, anywhere it might be seen before someone is sitting where we are now.

Why Street Clinic is unapologetically about race and class

We cannot talk about maternity safety without talking about race, racism and inequality.

Street Clinic is deliberately centred on:

• Black women and families

• Asian and other ethnic minority communities

• families in deprived postcodes

• people whose first language is not English

• those who feel out of place in hospitals and waiting rooms

We name things that often get softened in official documents:

• The fear of being labelled “difficult” for asking questions

• The pressure to “be grateful” rather than truthful

• The way pain and risk are sometimes minimised for Black and brown women

• The reality that some of us walk into appointments already expecting not to be believed

Street Clinic creates a space where these experiences are not argued with or debated, but taken as truth and used as a starting point for action.

What we’re building next

Over the coming months, Street Clinic will grow in three directions:

1. Regular Q&A posts and videos

We’ll publish blogs and videos that answer questions we’re hearing repeatedly, such as:

• “What do I do if my midwife dismisses my worries?”

• “How do I bring someone with me to appointments and what can they say?”

• “What’s the difference between ‘normal’ pregnancy discomfort and something urgent?”

• “What are my rights if I feel my care is unsafe?”

We will always include real phrases you can use, not just general advice.

2. Community‑led topics

We want Street Clinic to be shaped by the people it’s for. That means:

• anonymous question boxes at events and online

• listening sessions in churches, mosques, community centres and colleges

• inviting midwives, doulas, faith leaders and community organisers into the conversation

If you have a question, a story or a topic you want us to cover, we want to hear it.

3. A bridge to the system

Street Clinic is not a replacement for proper medical care, and we will never pretend to be clinicians. What it can be is a bridge:

• helping families understand what to expect and what to ask for

• feeding patterns and themes back to trusts and boards

• creating co‑designed patient information that reflects real life, not just policy

When we see the same problem repeated, for example, certain symptoms being dismissed in a particular service, we will not just blog about it. We will bring that evidence into meetings, training and governance conversations.

How you can get involved

If you are reading this as:

• a parent or parent‑to‑be, you can submit questions for future Street Clinics, come to events, share posts and talk about them with people you trust.

• a healthcare professional, you can use Street Clinic content in reflective practice, teaching and patient conversations – and tell us what you’re seeing from your side.

• a community leader, you can invite us to run a Street Clinic session with your group, on your turf, in your language and style.

• a supporter, you can help fund this work so Street Clinic stays free and accessible to the people who need it most.

Why we’re doing this

We called this charity Elkan’s Light because we refuse to let our son’s name be attached only to a letter about missed opportunities.

Street Clinic is one of the ways his name becomes a light on the street:

• a light for the mum who knows something is wrong but doesn’t have the words

• a light for the partner who wants to back her up but doesn’t know how

• a light for clinicians who want to do better but need honest stories and trusted language

• a light for communities who have learned to expect the worst and are daring to hope for better

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for listening. If you have a question you’d like the next Street Clinic to tackle, you can share it with us in confidence.

Because every question, every script and every shared story is one more step towards what we all want:

not one more preventable loss like Elkan’s.