BHM2020 - The History and Politics of Black: IAHR Research Seminar Maternal Health in the UK: Research SeminarIAHR Research SeminarIAHR Research Seminar

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This paper explores reproductive politics and black women’s health in the UK. It examines the ways in which black women and black families have been portrayed pathologically in social policy literature, and how this representation is embedded in an imperialist and colonial history. Representations of black women as fierce, fecund and feckless have led to inequities in the reproductive choices of black women. This paper examines contraception, abortion and maternal mortality among Black British women. It then explores the contribution of black women as activists for change and as organisers of change… for example Birmingham Black Health Workers, Brixton Black Women’s Collective and the Organisation of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD). However, the activism of these black women has remained ignored and unacknowledged. This paper aims to redress this and to make recommendations for future research and policy that incorporates an intersectional approach.

Dr Jenny Douglas is a Senior Lecturer in Health Promotion in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies at the Open University.  The focus of her research and activism, spanning over 30 years, is intersectionality – exploring how ‘race’, class and gender affect particular aspects of African - Caribbean women’s health. She established and chairs the Black Women’s Health and Wellbeing Research Network. (www.open.ac.uk/black-womens-health-and-wellbeing) 

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