Successful co-production can help tackle inequalities in maternal health outcomes

The experience from this project in an ethnically diverse socially disadvantaged community in England showed the power of co-production in fostering inclusivity, engagement, shared understanding and a fair balance of power while developing solutions to tackle maternal health inequalities. While co-production approaches are helpful in ensuring that women from ethnically diverse and socially disadvantaged backgrounds have a voice in their care to maximise positive health outcomes for themselves and their babies, the project demonstrated that the success of the approach depends on a number of factors both in the underlying ethos and the methodology.