FOI2026/1886

In each of the last three years (2023-2026):

1.    How many services have been commissioned by your organisation to specifically support Black maternal mental health? 

·       What type of support is provided by these services?

·       How does your organisation currently signpost to or commission any Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE), community-led or culturally specific services supporting Black mothers during pregnancy, birth or the postnatal period?

·       How are these services evaluated and what does the evaluation show?

2.    How does your organisation and maternity services collate data on the specific perinatal mental health experiences and needs of Black mothers?

·       What does this data show, and how frequently is it collated?

3.    Has your organisation commissioned maternity-specific cultural competency or anti-racism training, to be delivered to clinical staff (including, but not limited to, midwives, obstetricians, and maternity support workers) specifically targeted to aid understanding of and support Black mothers facing mental health difficulties?

If yes,  

·       What did the training cover?

·       Who delivered the training, and was this delivered by a specialist organisation with expertise in Black maternal health, perinatal mental health and lived experience?

·       Was the training co-created with Black mothers, Black women with lived experience, or community-led organisations?

·       When was the training delivered and how frequently?

·       How many staff received the training?

·       What gaps were identified in culturally responsive training or support for Black mothers, does your organisation have plans to commission or develop provision in this area?

·       How is the training evaluated and what does the evaluation show?

·       What criteria does your organisation use to assess whether training or services are culturally competent, trauma-informed and appropriate for Black mothers?

NHS Greater Manchester commissions and oversees a range of maternity, perinatal mental health and wider mental health services for the population of Greater Manchester. We do not currently hold information identifying services that are commissioned specifically and exclusively to support Black maternal mental health.

1. In each of the last three years (2023–2026), how many services have been commissioned by your organisation to specifically support Black maternal mental health?

NHS Greater Manchester has not commissioned any services specifically and exclusively for Black maternal mental health during the period 2023–2026.

During this period, NHS Greater Manchester provided grant funding to the Caribbean & African Health Network (CAHN), a Black-led VCSE organisation, through the Perinatal and Parent Infant Mental Health Programme. The grant aimed to strengthen culturally responsive support for Black Caribbean and African women and families and support a range of community-based activities, including wellbeing support, parenting advice, health literacy, peer support and community engagement initiatives. NHS Greater Manchester is waiting for a final two-year impact report, which will help inform any future commissioning considerations and decisions regarding culturally responsive perinatal and parent-infant mental health support.

2. What type of support is provided by these services?

Black mothers are able to access universal and specialist maternity, perinatal mental health, health visiting, primary care and mental health services commissioned for the wider population, subject to clinical need.

The CAHN grant supported delivery of community-based activities, including wellbeing support, parenting advice, health literacy, peer support and community engagement initiatives. This was a time-limited, non-recurrent grant, and NHS Greater Manchester is waiting for a final impact report that will be used to inform future commissioning intentions.

3. How does your organisation currently signpost to or commission any Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE), community-led or culturally specific services supporting Black mothers during pregnancy, birth or the postnatal period?

NHS Greater Manchester works with a range of VCSE organisations across localities to support women and families during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Access to community support may be facilitated through maternity services, primary care, health visiting services, family hubs and local social prescribing pathways.

We do not hold a centrally maintained record of all culturally specific or community-led organisations supporting Black mothers across Greater Manchester. Such information may be held locally by provider organisations or local authority partners.

4. How are these services evaluated and what does the evaluation show?

Where VCSE services are commissioned, evaluation arrangements are determined within the relevant contract, grant agreement or service specification. NHS Greater Manchester does not hold a single Greater Manchester-wide evaluation specifically relating to services for Black maternal mental health.

5. How does your organisation and maternity services collate data on the specific perinatal mental health experiences and needs of Black mothers?

Maternity and mental health services routinely collect demographic information, including ethnicity, as part of patient records. Service activity, outcomes and patient experience data may be analysed by ethnicity where appropriate and where data quality and sample sizes allow meaningful analysis.

6. What does this data show, and how frequently is it collated?

NHS Greater Manchester does not hold a single reporting dataset specifically relating to the perinatal mental health experiences and needs of Black mothers.

Data are collected routinely by provider organisations as part of clinical care and reporting requirements. Any analysis undertaken is generally dependent on the purpose of the review, available data and reporting requirements.

7. Has your organisation commissioned maternity-specific cultural competency or anti-racism training, to be delivered to clinical staff specifically targeted to aid understanding of and support Black mothers facing mental health difficulties?

NHS Greater Manchester has not commissioned a Greater Manchester-wide programme of maternity-specific cultural competency or anti-racism training solely focused on supporting Black mothers experiencing perinatal mental health difficulties.

However, the Greater Manchester Local Maternity and Neonatal System (GMLMNS) commissioned ‘cultural safety and cultural competency in maternity care’ training which set out its commitment to develop a standardised programme of cultural competency training across the local maternity and neonatal system.  Key to this development was finding an appropriate level of training that is achievable and sustainable across our maternity and neonatal providers. which is delivered at every maternity hospital in Greater Manchester.  This training forms part of the mandatory training that providers deliver within their Trusts. 

provider organisations may deliver equality, diversity and inclusion, cultural competency, anti-racism or health inequalities training as part of their organisational learning and development programmes. Information relating to provider-specific training may be held by the individual NHS Trusts.

8. If yes, what did the training cover?

Not applicable.

9. Who delivered the training, and was this delivered by a specialist organisation with expertise in Black maternal health, perinatal mental health and lived experience?

Not applicable.

10. Was the training co-created with Black mothers, Black women with lived experience, or community-led organisations?

Not applicable.

11. When was the training delivered and how frequently?

Not applicable.

12. How many staff received the training?

Not applicable.

13. What gaps were identified in culturally responsive training or support for Black mothers, and does your organisation have plans to commission or develop provision in this area?

NHS Greater Manchester recognises the importance of addressing health inequalities and improving maternity and perinatal mental health outcomes for all communities.

Work relating to health inequalities, patient experience and culturally appropriate care is considered through broader maternity, mental health and inclusion programmes. We do not currently hold a specific assessment of gaps relating solely to Black maternal mental health support, nor do we hold confirmed plans for a dedicated commissioned service in this area.

The LMNS is acutely aware that data on maternal and perinatal mortality show worse outcomes for those from Black, Asian and Mixed ethnic groups and those living in the most deprived areas.  In 2022 GMEC LMNS developed their Equity and Equality Maternity Action Plan.  The plan was ambitious with a significant number of actions with the aim to improve equity for mothers and babies from Black, Asian and Mixed ethnic groups and those living in the most deprived areas and race equality for staff. The plan was guided by three values: 

1. Proportionate universalism– To ‘raise and flatten’ the inequalities gradient, universal action is needed with a scale and intensity that reflects need.  
2. Collaboration – Achieving equity will require unity and co-ordinated effort across many stakeholders, especially to tackle the social determinants of health.  
3. Co-production– Interventions are more likely to be culturally and socially relevant and clinically effective if parents and staff work in partnership to improve clinical quality. 

The plan follows the direction as outlined in the national Equity and Equality guidance, but it was co-designed and co-produced with the people we serve in Greater Manchester, and with a broad range of stakeholders from the GM system, which meant that the resulting plan was ambitious, containing 26 overarching interventions and 363 individual actions, many relating to maternal health, perinatal mental health. The actions are system-wide across a number of overlapping dimensions of health inequality, including:    

• Inclusion health & vulnerable groups  

• Socioeconomic groups and deprivation  

• Protected characteristics  

• Geography  

14. How is the training evaluated and what does the evaluation show?

Not applicable.

15. What criteria does your organisation use to assess whether training or services are culturally competent, trauma-informed and appropriate for Black mothers?

NHS Greater Manchester expects commissioned services to comply with relevant national legislation, NHS standards and contractual requirements relating to equality, diversity, inclusion, patient experience and reducing health inequalities.

When developing or reviewing services, consideration may be given to:

• Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessments.
• Patient and public involvement and engagement.
• Service user feedback and experience data.
• Compliance with relevant national guidance and service specifications.
• Workforce training and development requirements.

• Delivery of person-centred and trauma-informed care principles.

No separate Greater Manchester-wide assessment framework exists solely for determining appropriateness for Black mothers.

Every maternity Trust reports on its compliance with mandatory training within its own systems and in Safety Assurance Panels.  Alongside this, Greater Manchester maternity Trusts are set to participate in the RHO Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discriminatory Practice (PEADP) Programme, a 9–10 month initiative designed to support safer, more equitable and culturally responsive maternity care.

Programme overview

The PEADP Programme will support participating Trusts to develop a shared understanding of racism and discrimination, strengthen anti-racist practice, and identify practical actions to improve maternity experiences and outcomes. This will support Greater Manchester maternity Trusts to strengthen their perinatal equity and anti-discriminatory practice.