Women’s Health Strategy

On 8th March 2021 the Department of Health and Social Care opened a call for evidence to help inform the development of the government’s Women’s Health Strategy.

Birth Companions responded to this call with a written submission focusing on the health inequalities experienced by women facing disadvantage and deprivation during pregnancy and early motherhood.  

Our submission focuses on a number of key points:

• The impact of the wider determinants of health on the lives of girls and women across their life course;
• The impact of key systems on women’s health and wellbeing, and that of their children; in particular the maternity system, the criminal justice system, the social services system, and the immigration system;
• The barriers to women’s engagement with health and care services, including the impact of bias, judgment, stigma, and fear associated with social services involvement;
• The central importance of a trauma-informed approach;
• The importance of engagement with women with lived experience;
• The risks and opportunities associated with the critical first 1001 days (from conception to a child’s second birthday).