Safety spotlight
The Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) programme has completed several investigations where the organisation and delivery of NHS maternity and neonatal care has not been clearly explained to migrant women. Access to care can be affected when women and their families are not familiar with NHS pathways, do not understand how or when to seek help, and when translation technology is not always supported on maternity record applications on their devices.
MNSI investigations have found healthcare staff do not always recognise when women are migrants, particularly if English is spoken and is not their first language, or they have migrated from a developed country.
Migrant women may have received maternity and neonatal care overseas. This can shape their understanding of how perinatal care in the NHS is organised and what care is available to them. MNSI investigations have found that some women had not previously received care with a midwife being the lead professional. This means some women may expect to see and receive care from an obstetric doctor throughout the perinatal period. When this does not happen, some women and families feel there have been gaps in their care.
MNSI investigations also identified that digital translation services used by trusts do not always function across different devices and platforms. This means some families were unable to access translated information within maternity record applications on their personal devices.
Safety prompts:
- How does your trust identify migrant women?
- How does your trust ensure that migrant women are familiar with how to access NHS care?
- How does your trust identify migrant women who need support in receiving the information they need to make informed decisions about their care?
- How does your trust support women to plan for and understand when to seek help, including in emergency situations?
- How does your trust work with local communities to identify barriers to migrant women accessing healthcare, and co-produce solutions to help overcome these challenges?
- Does your trust routinely provide information leaflets and letters in a woman’s preferred language?
- Does in-built translation software in your trust’s digital service (for example, website or ‘App’) work on all electronic devices (mobile telephones/computers)?
Further reading
Health Services Safety Investigations Body. (2025) An exploratory review of maternity and neonatal services [Online]. Available at https://www.hssib.org.uk/patient-safety-investigations/an-exploratory-review-of-maternity-and-neonatal-services/summary-report/ (Accessed 3 November 2026).
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2010) Pregnancy and complex social factors: a model for service provision for pregnant women with complex social factors [Online]. Available at https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg110 (Accessed 3 November 2026).
Royal College of Midwives. (2022) Position statement: caring for migrant women [Online]. Available at https://rcm.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/rcm_position-statement_cfvmw.pdf (Accessed 3 November 2026).
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. (2021) Language interpreting and translation: migrant health guide [Online]. Available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/language-interpretation-migrant-health-guide (Accessed 3 November 2026).