Everyone deserves to breathe clean air, but today, breathing clean air has become a luxury due to the ever-increasing rates of air pollution in London. Black pregnant women are more severely impacted and suffer the health consequences of simply breathing the wrong air in the wrong place, and the devastating outcomes can be lasting.
We know that Black communities in London are disproportionately more likely to breathe illegal levels of air pollution than white and Asian ones (Eg. Southwark). These findings were revealed in the 2016 study for the Mayor of London, which also found that women exposed to air pollution are more likely to have premature, underweight or stillborn children and to have reduced live birth rate and maternal depressive symptoms.
This research has been eye-opening, and it’s shining a spotlight on the incredibly important issues, but to date, there has not yet been a study which has spoken directly to these mothers to get under the skin of the knowledge and resulting behaviours of air pollution in these communities. The very women who are disproportionately impacted by pollution inside and outside of their London homes.
If we want to change the future of our children, born and unborn, we need to speak to the women who are adversely affected because this is how we can drive real change. Every day that passes, more and more preventable deaths are happening in our towns and cities because of air pollution inside and outside of the home. It’s time to change these outcomes from within.
This is why we have launched the first-ever study that will speak to Black mothers in London. The first-of-its-kind research study is pioneered by Global Black Maternal Health and commissioned by Impact on Urban Health. It is seeking to speak to as many Black pregnant mothers or Black mothers with children under five years as possible to gather information on education, and attitudes towards air pollution.
Air pollution is a global issue, with almost all of the global population breathing air that exceeds WHO guidelines, but it’s also a London issue. In fact, in 2008, an estimated 4,300 premature deaths in London were due to long-term exposure to air pollution, and there were up to 9,400 equivalent premature deaths in 2010; these stats are incredibly shocking, and the reality is that this isn’t down to socioeconomic status. The maternal mortality ratio is out of control in some urban areas, and this is down to geography and the air pollution these communities of Black women breathe in daily.
These findings have now raised such concern that, in their 2021 Position statement, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists urged the UK Government to invest in air pollution monitoring and legally enforced air quality standards that meet WHO recommended limits. This problem will only get worse unless we have an intervention and start to drive education, awareness and change directly within these communities.
The new study will complement existing clinical research by surveying mothers and pregnant women living in London boroughs to determine black mothers’ knowledge, behaviours and attitudes to air pollution. People often think of air pollution as being outside on busy roads, but the reality is air pollution takes place within your home too. So this is an opportunity to really find out how much people living in these areas know about the very air they breathe daily and to empower them to make changes that will help them fight against its devastating effects.
It’s not easy for Black mothers to ‘just move’ into the suburbs. There are many factors that feed into where you choose to live. For some, it’s financial, and for others is proximity to family and childcare support; it’s also not easy to up and move to a community where people don’t look like you either; everyone wants to feel at home in their community.
And so, through this study, we want to enable as many Black mothers and Black pregnant women as possible to take precautions and fight back against air pollution. Through health supplements, vitamins, and knowledge of how to change things inside your home.
We also hope that through continued attention and new research on air pollution, we can see a focused effort for change from the government to legally enforce air quality standards because everyone deserves to breathe clean.
Featured Photo by Nabeel Syed on Unsplash
