Bidii Magazine's Our Wellness Forum - March 20th 2024

JN Bank UK welcomed Bidii Magazine to our Brixton branch, where they held their ‘Our Wellness’ forum. The event was held as part of our celebration of Women’s History Month. It was held on Wednesday March 20th.

The ‘Our Wellness’ forum included a panel of experts. They talked about the health inequalities affecting the Black community and ways to bring about positive change.

The rate of maternal deaths has increased in recent years, despite a government target to half this by 2025. Black women are three times more likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after compared to White women. Asian women are twice as likely to die. The panel agreed that change is urgently needed to see improvements in these figures.

Dr. Williams, a panel member and London GP, talked about what a good healthcare service should look and feel like. The attendees shared their own accounts of maternal and health care services. It was agreed that these were better when they had been listened to, respected, and treated with kindness. The following tips for a good health care experience were shared:

  • Speak up and respectfully share how they feel and what they need.
  • Document and share their experience with other groups that are trying to improve things or with their local GPs.
  • Find current information and build their knowledge about the healthcare services available and what might work best for them.

We thank Bidi Magazine and the expert panel for sharing their time and skills.

 

The panel

  • Tanya Prendergast, Founder and Editor in Chief at Bidii Magazine and moderator of the session.
  • Councillor Evelyn Akoto, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing at Southwark Council. Evelyn chairs the Southwark Maternity Commission reviewing access, experience, and outcome for maternity care in Southwark.
  • Tracy Awere, Holisitc Birth Preparation Specialist based in North London.
  • Ola Fagbohun, Founder and Director of a social enterprise project that supports marginalised and diverse menopausal individuals. She is also an ambassador for the Black Women’s Reproductive Health Project.
  • Michelle Williams, a GP in London for over 20 years, plus a GP trainer and the Health Equity Lead for Lewisham.