There is a kind of work that rarely appears in a commissioning spreadsheet. A mother checking in on another mother. A trusted space where someone can finally say that she is struggling. The time it takes to build enough trust for an honest conversation.
As a mother of three and founder of The Motherhood Group, I think often about who supports a mother while she is caring for everyone else. Being needed can make it hard to admit that you need someone too.
This Black History Month, “honouring our communities” means recognising the expertise within those communities and investing in the support they provide. For Black maternal mental health, that requires decisions about funding, services and whose knowledge carries weight.
When support exists on paper
Our latest briefing, Understanding local provision for Black maternal mental health, brings that responsibility into focus. It forms part of the project led by The Motherhood Group in partnership with the Maternal Mental Health Alliance and Centre for Mental Health.
Drawing on Freedom of Information responses from 35 of England’s 36 Integrated Care Boards, it found that the vast majority do not commission services specifically for Black maternal mental health. Most rely on general perinatal mental health provision. Gaps in the data make it impossible to establish whether that provision meets Black mothers’ needs.
For me, that uncertainty is a call to act. A service being available tells us very little about whether a mother feels able to use it, whether she is understood when she arrives, or what happens after she asks for help.
Our earlier Black Maternal Mental Health Report brought together mothers’ experiences of racism, isolation, pressure to appear strong, and the value of trusted community spaces. Read alongside the new briefing, it makes a practical question unavoidable: how are we using what mothers have already told us to improve their care?
Community expertise belongs in decisions
The relationships built by community organisations take time, consistency and care. That work deserves sustainable funding, with clear routes into specialist support when a mother needs it.
Through our cultural competency training, we bring research and lived experience into conversations with healthcare professionals. I want that learning to reach the next appointment: the questions someone asks, the assumptions they challenge and the way they respond when a mother describes racism or distress.
Good practice means listening to the individual woman. Black mothers have different histories, family circumstances, beliefs and needs. Culturally competent care requires professionals to stay curious, recognise racial bias and act on what they hear. Training should be followed by changes in practice that mothers can recognise.
Our Mums Advisory Board and Ambassadors Programme gives mothers opportunities to help shape research, training, programmes and policy. Their contribution deserves proper recognition and fair payment. Involvement becomes meaningful when mothers can see how their expertise has influenced a decision.
Support that fits around motherhood
We also need to think about the practical effort involved in accessing support. Childcare, work, travel and exhaustion can shape what is possible. Support needs to fit into a mother’s life.
That thinking sits behind Mumbrite, our culturally inclusive motherhood platform. It creates opportunities for mothers to connect around shared experiences and access community support. Through our programmes, we also use it to deliver peer support and professionally facilitated group therapy.
The Mum Forward Programme brings emotional wellbeing, peer connection and practical guidance together. It reflects how closely motherhood, identity, work and mental health can sit alongside one another.
Digital access is one route into support. Mothers also need in-person options and clear pathways to clinical care. I want community organisations and NHS services to work closely enough that a mother can move between them without having to start her story again every time.
Honouring communities through action
During Black Maternal Mental Health Week UK 2026, our theme was Joy, Justice and Journey. Joy matters to me because Black mothers deserve room for friendship, laughter and ordinary happiness. They deserve support before life becomes unbearable.
The latest briefing calls for clear national commissioning guidance, better data and sustainable investment in community-led provision. Those recommendations offer a way forward. Commissioners can fund trusted partnerships, agree clear referral routes and evaluate both mothers’ experiences and outcomes, with Black women involved throughout.
For Black History Month, I want us to ask what will still be there for mothers when October ends. Who will answer? What support can they access? How will their experience change the next decision?
Honouring our communities means making sure the people who care for them have the resources to keep doing that work. Black mothers deserve to feel that commitment in their everyday lives.
Sandra Igwe MBE is founder and CEO of The Motherhood Group and founder of Mumbrite
