the brilliantly leaping gazelle

What I consider to be both one of the most divisive and reductive narratives of the modern age was perfectly illustrated in a headline in the ‘Guardian’ the other day. Namely, that the colour of ones skin is largely, if not exclusively, the determining factor as to whether or not one has an adverse experience in any given situation. 

‘National disgrace’: black mothers in England twice as likely to have NHS birth investigated’

Clicking  on the link, I was informed that the ‘Head of Royal College of Midwives (RCM), blames ‘institutional racism’ as black women face greater risk of death and stillbirth

The Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations is a safety programme that examines serious instances of maternal or neonatal death, stillbirths and babies born with severe brain injuries across the NHS in England.

Freedom of information requests and research by the Guardian shows black women are almost twice as likely to be subject to a maternity investigation than their white counterparts.’

But isn’t that a good thing? That all deaths in childbirth are properly investigated? Wouldn’t it be an actual ‘national disgrace’ if an investigation into such a tragedy was conducted for white women only? Wouldn’t that better prove that ‘institutional racism’ (IR) existed, if only their cases were investigated? Or am I missing something?

Further down in the article, away from the initial claims of IR were these rather more helpful observations, which to my mind at least, provided a more plausible explanation for why the disparity might exist.

‘The higher rate of investigations is a reflection of black women’s increased likelihood of experiencing maternal death, stillbirths and having babies born with severe brain injuries.

Black women across the UK are four times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth, and also more likely to experience some of the most serious birth complications’

Whoa! Back up! In a couple of sentences the whole premise of the article has been negated so yes, it is a ‘national disgrace’ – the readiness of an organisation to view everything through the reductive prism of skin colour and to cite IR as an explanation to explain this. And of a press that is all too willing to promulgate the narrative that IR exists. Yes racism exists and yes, organisations are operationally flawed, but those two things don’t necessarily prove the existence of a third.

As a white man is this evidence of my ‘unconscious bias? Or of an appreciation that there may well be many other interlinked factors at work here, factors that may be more complicated than others and which may be more difficult for society to accept.

For example, are the incidents triggering these investigations spread evenly throughout England or are there some regions where there are more than others? If so, why? And if there are, do these incidents disproportionally affect one ethnic group more than another? Additionally, might seemingly unrelated social and cultural factors be at play here? Are the mothers disproportionally younger or older than their white counterparts? Have they suffered health problems that are worsened by socio-economic factors? Is accessing proper pre-natal information an issue? Is it a skill shortage – a lack of awareness and training – about the some of the medical challenges that certain ethic groups might present in childbirth?

And might this situation be further exacerbated by a lack of midwifery staff in the NHS? The Royal College of Midwives, estimated in 2023, that there was a shortage of over 2,500 midwives in the NHS. 

‘Too often staffing shortages, mean women aren’t receiving the high-quality care midwives can and want to deliver as they are spread too thinly. Also, the rise in more complex pregnancies, which may place women and babies at higher risk of complications, means pregnant women often require more care and need more time with midwives so any issues can be picked up.

Solve the shortage and value midwives so they don’t want to leave. Because when they leave, they take years of experience with them that can’t then be passed on to newly qualified midwives joining the workforce’

But now Gill Walton, the chief executive of the RCM, claims the issue is “purely down to institutional racism”. She is quoted four times in the article saying as much. Quite who is responsible for this and how this directly impacts non-white pregnant women, she keeps to herself.

All of which leads me to think that claiming that IR is responsible for for something is in itself proof of an unconscious bias. Among those whose own predisposition to discern racism as being everywhere and yet another unhelpfully reductive prism to view society through, and because of that, views that bias as a not existing at all.

**************************************************************

As things change, so they remain the same and whilst there are new passengers riding the political gravy train, the same hypocrisy continues unabated.

This story appeared in ‘The Daily Express’ a few days ago, ‘David Lammy flies on private jet Angela Rayner blasted Tories for using

The Foreign Secretary used the Airbus A321 private jet to head to New Delhi in India today (Wednesday)

But when Liz Truss travelled on the jet in 2022 the Labour deputy leader branded it as “obscene”, “brazen” and a “disgusting waste” of taxpayer money for “vanity and comfort”.’

****************************************************************

To mark the start of the Paris Olympics, here’s a quick question for you. 

What proportion of the British Olympic team attended public schools? Before you think of answer, I’ll give you some help. 330 athletes make up the British team. Roughly 7% of children go to public schools.

The figure is 106, or 33%. Thats up from the 28% who went to Tokyo in 2021 and that was up from the 24% who went to Rio in 2016.

So it seems only fitting that both of the UK’s flag bearers at tonights opening ceremony – Tom Daley and Helen Glover – went to public schools. 

The fact they attended public schools because of being given scholarships by those schools underlines just how stark the choice is for parents with principles and children that display sporting prowess. State schools have neither the facilities, the staff or indeed the time required to turn potential into podium places.

*****************************************************************