Reflections on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in perinatal psychology – systemic vitality or structural fragility?

Benash is a Midwife, an early career researcher and currently working in Midwifery Education. She is passionate about addressing health inequalities & invested in improving maternity services for those we care for and those who work in them.

She has co-designed and runs Cultural Competency and Safety Workshops for maternity Health care professionals. These successful courses have been used as a case study of good practice for the NHS Equity and Equality  Guidance for Local Maternity Systems, September 2021.

Benash co-founded The Association of South Asian Midwives (ASAM), they work to support marginalised midwives & raise awareness of barriers faced by diverse communities. She is also the Co-Chair for the Racial Injustice in UK Maternity Services Inquiry by Birth Rights Charity. She sits on the MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Confidential Enquiry Review Panel & the RHO maternity stakeholder group. Benash is a Fellow for the Royal College of Midwives, has been shortlisted for the "RCM Race Matters awards 2021" and Winner of the "Ground-breaking Researcher" award at the BAME Health & Care awards 2022.

Follow Benash online at @BenashNaz on both Instagram and X/Twitter.

Clare is a birth keeper, doula and trainer with over 14 years experience of holistically supporting women in their birthing journey and beyond. Clare is a Yoga Teacher, and also trained in Baby Massage, Postnatal Massage and Women's Circle Facilitation. As a woman from an underrepresented community (who has experienced first-hand the discrimination that often goes alongside this), Clare designed the Gypsy & Traveller Cultural Competency - Birth & Beyond Workshop. 

She has also founded the Wildflower Doula training organisation and supports countless other doulas through training, mentorship and their personal development. A golden thread that goes through all her work is creating a community for others to feel safe, seen, respected and heard – and ultimately to thrive. Claire is a mum to two teen girls Lola & Evie, Wife to Steve, and is also busy unschooling her family in the Worcestershire countryside. 

Follow Clare on Instagram at @clare_cox_doula,

Camilla is a consultant perinatal clinical psychologist and psychosexual couples therapist. She is a mum of two (aged 1 and 7) and lives with her partner and Westie near the coast in East Kent. Camilla is currently the chair of the BPS Perinatal Psychology Faculty and works at the Anna Freud as a researcher leading the Perinatal & Early Childhood (Pearl) Clinical Research Unit. 

As part of her work in the Pearl unit, she leads a large NIHR funded randomised controlled trial that is testing the clinical and cost effectiveness of Circle of Security Parenting Groups in perinatal mental health services. Camilla has recently set up a small private practice which brings together her perinatal clinical work with psychosexual couples therapy. She also works for her local health board as a service user lead within the Perinatal Pelvic Health Service transformation programme.

Follow Camilla on X/Twitter at @CamillaRosan.

Ukwuori is a Chartered Principal Clinical Psychologist and the Lead of a Maternal Mental Health Service (MMHS) in London. She is the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Lead for the Faculty of Perinatal Psychology with the British Psychological Society (BPS), as well as a member of the BPS EDI Subcommittee.

Ukwuori has trained in therapies focused on maternal mental health, the couple relationship, and parenting, and she has been involved in teaching, training and supervision of professionals and psychological therapists who work with parents in the perinatal period. Ukwuori has a particular interest in improving care for those who have experienced reproductive trauma and loss, including supporting staff who work in maternity and addressing inequalities in outcomes and care.

Ukwuori has worked in various countries and contexts. She has worked for many years as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), taking part in projects to investigate and consult on the mental health needs of pregnant women in Nigeria. She worked in Nigeria for a number of years actively promoting mental health awareness and care by consulting for local hospitals, school and organisations and through a TEDx Talk. 

AJ Silver is the founder of the Queer Birth Club. They are a highly trained and experienced birth & postnatal Doula, Breastfeeding counsellor, Babywearing Consultant, published author, speaker and LGBT+ activist. 

AJ has worked in the birth and baby world for almost a decade, cementing themselves as an expert in their field in the UK. AJ brings together the stories and lived experience of members of the LGBTQ+ community; adding and amplifying the voices of the often overlooked and invisible minorities in the birthing world.

AJ created the UK’s first LGBTQ+ Competency workshop for those working in the maternity or perinatal sector. It has been delivered to NHS trusts, and various Universities. The workshop has been added to curriculums for many birth schools and booked by companies such as: The NCT, The Positive Birth Company, Abuela Doulas, Birthrights, The Practicing Midwife and Maternity & Neonatal Voice Partnerships.

Instagram: @thequeerbirthclub

FB: thequeerbirthclub

Laura is a clinical psychologist and systemic practitioner working in the Cheshire and Mersey specialist perinatal service.

She is the equalities lead for the service, supporting various initiatives aimed at improving access to the service.

The equalities project aims to “look in” (improving staff awareness and skills, considering how our service works for those who access it and developing resources) and to “look out” by building strong partnership working with local community groups, sharing our learning/resources and support others to support those in the perinatal period.

The project has been shortlisted for a Positive Practice in Mental Health Award.

Laura has been passionate about improving service access for underrepresented groups for many years after witnessing the impact of longstanding generational trauma, poverty and feeling unheard and unseen, on her community in Liverpool and the subsequent impact this has on how the community is viewed by professionals, and how services are accessed by the community.

Her interests lie in the power of community and systems of support outside of the traditional institutions of care.

Eloise is a Clinical Psychologist in the Cheshire and Mersey specialist perinatal service where she leads the REACH (Racial Ethnic And Cultural Heritage) Community Project alongside her colleague Ranj. Eloise also works on the neonatal unit at The Evelina/St. Thomas’ Hospital supporting families and staff.

The REACH community project has a focus on improving access to the perinatal mental health service for families from ethnic minority backgrounds, and Eloise, Ranj and the team have employed a multipronged approach, considering the needs of both the staff team and the communities in the locality. 

Initiatives include offering training to staff and the local community, developing spaces to have conversations about difference within the staff team and developing tailored reports ‘at place’, that provide teams with an accurate picture of communities in their localities, encouraging thought around how connection with such communities can be improved. ‘Change happens at the speed of trust’ has been a key phrase in the work, and the REACH team have realised the centrality of trust in developing safety and fostering relationships.

Eloise values and has experienced power of community and non-western therapeutic approaches in supporting with and alleviating distress. She has developed a passion for promoting equity across healthcare settings, and supporting
systems that are often under pressure and at times stuck, to think and reflect. In both her personal and professional life, she has experienced the disparities in offer and treatment from services to individuals from minority communities, and in her clinical practice she is committed noticing and working towards addressing these gaps.

Ranj is a Clinical Psychologist working with the Cheshire and Mersey specialist perinatal service, working specifically on the REACH (Racial Ethnic and Cultural Heritage) community project.

The project works towards improving access and service experiences for ethnic minority families accessing the perinatal community team.

She also works in a Specialist Perinatal Service in the West Midlands, supporting families through their perinatal journeys. 

Ranj is committed to promoting equity and inclusion in all her work. This includes supporting staff teams to build confidence in their anti-racist practice and to consider the influence of culture on the stories that families present to the service with.

As a British Indian women, raised in a collectivist culture, she appreciates the value of community psychology and teamwork to work towards bridging the gaps in the health equalities in the perinatal period.