Coronation Street star Channique Sterling-Brown has said there is a "systemic issue" in maternity care in the UK as her character faces serious complications during the birth of her baby.
Viewers will see Sterling-Brown's Corrie character, the young solicitor Diana 'Dee-Dee' Bailey, going into labour in the 31 March episode - and Dee-Dee's life is put at risk.
After being rushed in for an emergency delivery, Dee-Dee suffers a haemorrhage and has to undergo life-changing surgery, which comes after a series of avoidable mistakes were made by the ward.
Dee-Dee considers making an official complaint of gross negligence against the hospital, claiming that her pain was not taken seriously due to her ethnicity.
Research referenced said that black women are 3.7 times more likely to die during or in their first year after pregnancy than white women, according to MBRRACE-UK, an organisation that conducts inquiries and investigates the deaths of women and babies who die during or shortly after pregnancy in the UK.
Sterling-Brown said: "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 think it's just really important to spark conversations.
"Beyoncé and Serena Williams are two of probably the richest, most famous black women in the world, and they had terrible birthing experiences. That's such a bigger problem. That's not just some kind of, like, malicious person who is just inherently racist.
"It's a huge systemic issue. Unless we're talking about it, there's no way to fix it.
"The gap is closing between black women's mortality rates and white women's mortality rates, but it's not because black women are being treated better. It's because white women are dying at higher rates too. So it's like, what is it about maternity care in the UK at the minute that is costing mothers their lives? It's a huge issue."
During the episode, Dee-Dee is diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a condition that results in high blood pressure during and after labour that can be serious if not treated.
She said: "Everything is all systems go in terms of getting the baby out as quickly and safely as possible.
"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.
"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."
In preparing for the scenes ahead, Sterling-Brown worked with organisations and charities that advised on the storyline, speaking to women who had a real lived experience.
Sterling-Brown added: "It's felt like a huge responsibility to honour women who are affected by this and also honour our healthcare workers who are extremely overstretched and stuff, because there is [sic] elements of that at play that we hopefully sensitively address."
One of the charities the star worked with is Birthrights, a UK group that aims to change maternity policy and systems while also offering legal advice to ensure the best medical and midwifery standards.
Janaki Mahadevan and Shanthi Gunesekera, Birthrights co-CEOs, 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."
Sterling-Brown first joined the cobbles cast in 2022 and won Best Newcomer at the British Soap Awards in 2023.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on Virgin Media One and ITV.
Source: Press Association
