New report highlights critical maternity care inequities for disabled women in the UK
March 5th, 2025 – The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Missing Billion Initiative (MBI) have published a groundbreaking report exposing maternity care access, experiences, and outcomes for disabled women in the UK and their inclusion in key maternity policy guidance.
The report finds that disabled women—who make up 20% of women of reproductive age in the UK—face significant inequalities in maternal and neonatal outcomes, including in infant mortality.
Despite these disparities, UK maternity care policy guidance largely overlooks the needs of disabled women, with limited guidance from key healthcare institutions such as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
“Our report shows that disabled women in the UK experience worse maternity care and neonatal outcomes, but that there is almost no policy guidance addressing this inequity” said Professor Hannah Kuper, co-director of the International Center for Evidence in Disability and co-founder of the Missing Billion Initiative.
Key findings of the report include that disabled women experience:
44% higher odds of stillbirth or neonatal mortality for infants
30%-69% higher odds of caesarean birth
35%-70% lower odds of breastfeeding
51%-111% higher odds of longer postnatal hospital stays
Widespread challenges in accessing care, including inaccessible facilities and information, negative attitudes of healthcare providers, and lack of continuity of care
The evidence provided corroborates the findings of the 2017 report by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which had already flagged the multiple issues faced by disabled women accessing sexual and reproductive health services in the UK.
The report calls for urgent action, including the establishment of a UK committee – inclusive of disabled women – to assess and improve maternity services for disabled women, increased funding for disability-inclusive maternal health research, the integration of disability considerations into national maternity care policy guidance and service delivery.
“This is a vital report which looks critically at the state of maternal healthcare for disabled people in the UK. It is a comprehensive review, revealing a lack of data across the board, and glaring inequalities with the limited data that is available” said Dr Grace Spence Green, reviewer of the report. “It is a call to action for change in obstetric care within the NHS.”
The data is clear – disabled women are being left behind in maternity care in the UK. What is needed now is immediate guidance change, better training for healthcare providers, and stronger commitments to disability-inclusive maternity care provision.
Read the full report here: www.themissingbillion.org/uk-maternity-report
About the International Centre for Evidence in Disability (ICED)
ICED is a research group within the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Its mission is to provide the evidence to improve the health and wellbeing of people with disabilities globally.
About the Missing Billion Initiative
The Missing Billion Initiative is a catalyst for system change aiming to improve the health of 1.3 billion people with disabilities. It gathers data and evidence, develops solutions and partners with health actors to implement change at scale.
For media inquiries, please contact cdanos@themissingbillion.org.