CORONATION STREET TO EXPLORE RACIAL INJUSTICE IN MATERNITY CARE FOR NEW STORYLING

Coronation Street’s Dee Dee Bailey is at the centre of dramatic scenes next week when serious complications during the birth of her baby put her life at risk and leave her fighting for justice.

Dee Dee goes into labour in Monday’s episode (March 31st), but is sent home from the hospital despite being in extreme pain. When her waters break, she goes back to the hospital and a series of delays result in her being rushed in for an emergency delivery.

But the drama doesn’t end there when Dee Dee suffers a huge haemorrhage and has to undergo life changing surgery. As she recovers in hospital a devastated Dee Dee reflects on her experience and starts to wonder if the treatment she received, and the mistakes made, were avoidable and linked to her ethnicity. 

In the coming weeks we will see the young lawyer enlist the help of friend and fellow legal expert Alya Nazir as she considers making an official complaint of gross negligence against the hospital.

Coronation Street have been working closely on this storyline with three organisations; Birthrights, a charity which was set up to protect human rights during pregnancy and childbirth; Motivational Mum’s Club who empower mothers and birthing people to make informed choices and be able to advocate for themselves and FivexMore the Uk’s Leading women’s health organisation focussed on Black maternal health.

Channique Sterling-Brown who plays Dee Dee said: “We've worked with some brilliant organisations and charities who were really great at advising on this story. I got to speak to a woman who had a real lived experience of this, and her story is not dissimilar to what happens to Dee Dee. It was emotional to hear her story and just finding the truth in that as well. Many of the conversations have been really hard but really helpful to hear what some women went through.

"The story we're trying to tell is one of truth. I don’t think there is any malice in any of Dee Dee’'s treatment. But it is a case of her being on an overstretched and understaffed Ward. She's not being fully heard because of assumptions that are potentially being made. 

"I also think she maybe is a little bit in denial, because I don’t think she’s probably quite ready to have the baby. It just ends up in a bit of an amalgamation of her pain being dismissed, and suddenly finding herself in a severe situation and she is really scared.

"Basically, everything is, all systems go in terms of getting the baby out as quickly and safely as possible. But it's really frightening how quickly that develops, and how, if someone had intervened a bit sooner and picked up on those symptoms a bit sooner. It might have meant that such drastic measures wouldn’t have needed to be taken."

In 2021/2022 Birthrights carried out a year long inquiry into racial injustice in maternity care to understand more about the experiences that sit behind the statistics that show that Black women are 3 times more likely to die in childbirth than white women.  

Birthrights co-CEOs Janaki Mahadevan and Shanthi Gunesekera said: “It’s extremely important that a show like Coronation Street is highlighting the experiences of Black women in maternity care. The data has long shown how Black women are more likely to suffer physical and psychological harm through pregnancy and birth. Our Race Inquiry documented some of the experiences behind these statistics including consistent failure to identify medical conditions due to skin colour, racial stereotyping and breaches of consent.

"This is a crisis that has gone on far too long and we hope that by bringing this to the wider public attention we can increase the movement for change. We are pleased that Coronation Street is taking this issue to its audience and showing the personal impact of experiences which sadly affect far too many Black women and birthing people. We know that individuals, families and communities have been left with a lifetime of trauma as a result of experiences like Dee-Dee’s. 

"There has never been a more critical time to face up to the realities of systemic racism and take collective action to dismantle it.  That is why we’re calling on the Government to introduce a new SAFE Maternity Care Act to make crystal clear how human rights law applies to all those who manage, deliver and regulate maternity care and ensure Safety, Accountability, Freedom of Choice and Equity are at the core of the maternity system."

Coronation Street airs on ITV1 and ITVX.