Welcome to Diversity Lens.

As we approach the end of another challenging year, we would like to thank our subscribers, new and old, for your continued support of our mission and purpose.

This week we are focusing on some positive initiatives happening across the UK, such as the Five X More campaign, calling for better maternal healthcare for Black women and birthing people, and LGBTQIA+ training for Museum, Archive and Library staff in Wales. We hope that this offers a welcome break from the Omicron-dominated news at the moment.

Have you seen this image before? It's gone viral due to one very simple reason: most people have never seen a diagram of a baby in utero in a body that wasn't white. In fact, the overwhelming majority of medical imagery uses the white body as standard.

This imagery reinforces the stark inequalities in healthcare. In the UK, if you are Black you face a much higher risk of death and health complications during pregnancy. Two women, Tinuke Awe and Clotilde Rebecca Abe, co-founded 5 X Moreto address the maternal healthcare system that was routinely failing Black women and birthing people.

Despite the issue receiving increasing attention, Black people are still four times more likely to die in childbirth and pregnancy.