In this fourth episode of Black Maternity Natters, Ann Remmers sits down with Dr Karen Joash, an award-winning Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Imperial College London. In a deeply moving conversation, Karen reflects on the "miracle of birth" and her lifelong commitment to supporting women through their most vulnerable and joyous moments.

Karen shares her own journey of resilience, from applying to medical school three times to navigating a healthcare system where she rarely saw herself represented. This personal history fuels her urgent work in health equity, particularly her exploration of "weathering" - the process where the chronic stress of racism leads to accelerated metabolic aging and poorer outcomes for Black and Brown mothers.

The discussion dives into how we can move beyond the "blame" often found in research data to address systemic barriers. Karen talks about how her team at Imperial successfully achieved equitable hemorrhage rates in just three months by challenging clinical biases, such as learning to recognise physical signs of blood loss that are often missed on darker skin.

Beyond the clinic, the episode explores the power of diversity of thought as a "gift" that fosters safer, more innovative healthcare systems. Karen also offers a preview of her upcoming project, "The Black Women’s Health Bible," a book designed to provide actionable solutions for the gender and racial health gap.

Join us for an inspiring conversation that challenges all of us to consider how embracing diversity can lead to greater peace, impact, and joy in our own lives.

Programme notes

Black Maternity Matters

Dr Karen Joash

NHS Race & Health Observatory

Tommy's - the pregnancy and baby charity

Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking by Matthew Syed

Connect with Dr Karen Joash on socials: Instagram and LinkedIn

Connect with Black Maternity Matters on socials: Instagram and LinkedIn

Got feedback or an idea for a future programme?

Contact us at healthinnowest.communications@nhs.net or via our socials: Instagram, LinkedIn or Bluesky

Find out more about Health Innovation West of England

Join Becca Lunn and Sarah White from Health Innovation West of England's Academy team for the forth episode of QualiTea.

So what is QualiTea? Quite simply, it's time for a cup of tea and a useful conversation. Each episode is a short, informal chat between Sarah and Becca, focusing on one simple improvement tool. They'll use relatable examples and talk about how you might actually use it in your day-to-day work to help you think a bit differently about a problem. Not in theory, in real life.

In this episode, we're looking at SCARF - a neuroscience-based framework explaining how social interactions trigger the brain's "threat" or "reward" responses. SCARF stands for: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness. Understanding this model helps managers and leaders improve engagement, psychological safety, and team collaboration

So grab a brew, get comfortable, and let's get started.

Got feedback or an idea for a future programme?

Contact us at healthinnowest.communications@nhs.net or via our socials: Instagram, LinkedIn or Bluesky

Find out more about Health Innovation West of England

In this episode of Black Maternity Natters, Ann Remmers sits down with Aisha Thomas, the Founding Director of Representation Matters and one of the founding members of our Black Maternity Matters collaborative, to explore her powerful journey from law to becoming a pioneering voice in anti-racist education.

Aisha shares the visceral experiences that shaped her mission, from a transformational encounter with young Black boys in the prison system to her impactful 2018 BBC documentary on the lack of Black teachers in Bristol. Driven by what she describes as a calling, Aisha discusses how her work is rooted in the belief that "you can't be what you can't see" and how representation serves as either a bridge or a barrier to fulfilling one's potential.

The conversation dives deep into the "special sauce" behind the Black Maternity Matters programme, and how this work focuses on tackling racial inequality in maternity care without apology. Aisha explains how the programme moves beyond traditional knowledge transfer to foster a space for courage, honesty, and critical reflection on systemic inequity. By moving from the macro level of structural racism to the micro level of daily clinical practice, she highlights how every healthcare professional has the power to change a patient’s trajectory through simple yet profound shifts in engagement.

Beyond professional accolades as an author and doctoral researcher, Aisha talks candidly about her personal anchors: her faith, her ancestral lineage, and her lived experience as a mother to two Black boys. As she navigates the challenges of the current political climate, she leaves listeners with a vital challenge: to move away from feeling furious to getting curious.

This episode is an invitation to look inward and ask how we can remain anchored, aligned, and accountable in our collective pursuit of equity and change.

Programme notes

Representation Matters

Black Maternity Matters

Becoming an Anti-Racist Educator by Aisha Thomas

Anchored, Aligned, Accountable: A Framework for Transcending Bullsh*t and Transforming Our Lives and Work by Aiko Bethea

BBC Inside Out West

TEDxBristol: Why Representation Really Matters - Aisha Thomas

Connect with Black Maternity Matters on socials: Instagram and LinkedIn

Got feedback or an idea for a future programme?

Contact us at healthinnowest.communications@nhs.net or via our socials: Instagram, LinkedIn or Bluesky

Find out more about Health Innovation West of England