Five X More: Highlighting Black Maternal Health Through Art
This Five-X-More sculpture was carved by the Gloucester-based artist Deborah Harrison
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Five-X-More Campaign
The FiveXMore campaign, founded by Tinuke Awe and Clotilde Rebecca Abe in 2019, has already helped bring about change, but there is still much more to do.
The campaign is helping to ensure that Black women, and women from other ethnic groups, are not subject to racial stereotyping, where for example black women are believed to have higher pain tolerance and so pain relief is withheld, or to experience racially discriminatory language and terminology.
In addition, there has been greater education to improve the understanding of the anatomy and physiology of black women and babies, ensuring that a wide range of health issues are routinely explored, including: fibroids; hypertension; sickle cell anaemia; diabetes and recognising jaundice in babies.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is working with Black Maternity Matters to develop and deliver training and education to all their maternity staff, as well as helping to empower black women to become advocates for themselves.
Sculpture
It is believed to be one of the few sculptures of a black baby carved from stone in the UK.
The sculpture is made from Irish Kilkenny Limestone, an extremely strong material. It took three months to carve by hand and broke five chisels and had to be completed using a specialist granite chisel!
Deborah was inspired by the Five-X-More campaign, following the 2018 MBRRACE Report, which found that black women were five times more likely to die in pregnancy, childbirth and the six weeks following birth than white women in the UK.
Photographs courtesy of Deborah Harrison https://www.debsharrison-sculptor.co.uk/