“Access to fair maternal health for all is a right, not a privilege”
Geeta Nayar is a Senior Associate Solicitor at Irwin Mitchell and passionate about women’s health equity and addressing the disparities in maternal outcomes for women who may face cultural, language and other barriers. Geeta is also an Advocate for The MASIC Foundation and Birth Trauma Association, as well as a Make Birth Better Champion.
In 2008 during the birth of her first child, Geeta sustained life-changing obstetric injuries and had to undergo extensive medical treatment. Despite raising her concerns to staff during her labour that something wasn’t right, she ultimately wasn’t listened to, leading to a very traumatic delivery and injuries that have impacted years of her life.
As a result of her journey Geeta has become a strong maternal health advocate and campaigner. Geeta regularly shares her expertise on the long-term impact of birth trauma and maternal injuries to give visibility to other women and collaborates with healthcare professionals, charity partners and policy makers to drive positive change in maternity care.
Since returning to Irwin Mitchell 2 years ago Geeta has been working hard striving towards creating improvements in maternity services. In February 2024 Geeta shared her experience as an expert in maternity safety in the first national inquiry into birth trauma in the history of UK Parliament. Geeta's testimony, alongside other key stakeholders underscored the urgent need for improved maternity care practices and increased awareness surrounding birth trauma. In June 2024, Geeta pioneered the inaugural South Asian Maternal Health Conference at the RCOG to facilitate discussion on national policy and health equity, and she is regularly invited to speak at webinars, hospital Trusts and major health conferences to share our campaigning work. Most recently, Geeta organised the first event at Irwin Mitchell to spotlight the long term and potentially devastating impact of severe perineal injuries during childbirth and treatment pathways.
We asked Geeta for her perspective on the work she does as well as the disparities in maternal health.
How has your own experience and the journey to becoming a maternity safety advocate shaped your interest in this field?
There is a huge amount of power behind the advocacy of lived experience and many of the campaigners I work closely with such as the former MP, Theo Clarke, have also had their own experiences of birth trauma. I started speaking about my experiences over 10 years ago to give a voice to other women as no one was talking about maternal injuries and the long term consequences at that time. This developed into peer support and subsequently working closely with policy makers and health care professionals. As a Firm we also act on behalf of hundreds of mothers and parents impacted by stillbirth, neonatal death, birth injuries and maternal injuries. Having been injured myself I don’t want anyone else to go through a similar experience which is hugely motivating for me.
What do you think of the progress that’s being made towards addressing the imbalances in maternal care for underrepresented communities?
There is well established date around racial and systemic disparities in maternity care thanks to reports by organisation such as MBRRACE-UK and FiveXMore. Black, mixed heritage and Asian women have higher maternal mortality rates and higher risk for stillbirth and preterm birth. Progress is being made such as culturally competent training and equitable technology development such as pulse oximetry measurement, but I think there needs to be more carefully thought out, well designed and sustained intervention. I am very proud of the patient safety and advocacy work we are doing providing equity of justice alongside equity of healthcare to women who have experienced adverse maternal outcomes whilst creating positive and systemic change for the future generations. I hope the recent national maternity announcement by Wes Streeting will look to tackle maternal health disparities in underserved communities.
What’s the biggest piece of advice you have for women when it comes to being an advocate for their own maternal health?
I am a strong advocate for ante-natal education and gave live evidence about how vital this is at the parliamentary enquiry into birth trauma and at the recent 2025 RCOG World Congress. Women need to be given access to high quality information and education so they are able to advocate for themselves and give true informed consent, which is a right of every woman.
Why are black, asian and minority ethnic women more likely to experience difficult pregnancies and birth injuries?
There are many factors as to why there are disparities in maternal outcomes, some of these stem from systemic inequalities including the impact of language and cultural barriers. However, there is now more research funding available to look at the reasons behind these systemic disparities, a focus on education and training for an equitable maternity system and public and professional engagement which is driving positive change.
If you, or a loved one, has experienced a birth injury our experts are here to help.
They’ll come to you with an understanding and sensitivity about your situation and work to get answers from those responsible, so you can look towards the future.
Edition 5 - Summer 2025
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