Acquiring cultural competency in caring for Black African women

The recent findings of the Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries (CMACE) (2011) report ‘Savings Mothers’ Lives’ has highlighted the high mortality rates among women of black African ethnicity, particularly those who have newly arrived in the UK. Failure to engage with maternity services was found to be a common trend with this group of women, and this may be linked to cultural differences in expectations of healthcare services. Of the 28 black African mothers who died from direct or indirect causes related to pregnancy between 2006 and 2008, only 9 were UK citizens; significantly, the remaining 19 women were recently arrived immigrants, refugees or asylum seekers (CMACE, 2011). In recent years, a greater emphasis has been placed on health professionals recognizing and appreciating diversity in order to acquire cultural competency. Cultural knowledge is the most important construct of cultural competence for health professionals, being crucial for the accurate appreciation of a patient’s worldview (Okrentowich, 2007). This review explores issues around immigrant black African women’s health in the UK during pregnancy and stresses the benefits for midwives to acquire a level of knowledge and awareness of black African culture to enable the provision of culturally‐appropriate maternity care.