Henry Smith Foundation: Maternity Equity

Investing in preventative maternity equity support.

The Maternity Equity Fund will support organisations delivering preventative maternity support during pregnancy and birth. It will help organisations improving access, experience and outcomes, and those that are open to learning, partnerships, and shared practice. This includes knowledge exchange with health professionals and other funded organisations.

The Fund aims to reduce unfair and avoidable maternity inequities by:

• improving access, experience and outcomes during pregnancy and birth.
• strengthening trusted community-led organisations delivering preventative, trauma-informed and culturally-safe maternity support.
• building and sharing learning about what works to improve maternity equity, influencing wider practice and systems over time

They’re committed to funding work that is rooted in communities and built on trust, shaped by lived experience, and is inclusive, accessible, and strengths-based.

The Maternity Equity Fund is part of our Getting Started programme, which supports early intervention from conception up to and including birth, helping give babies and families the best start in life.

Your organisation will support improved outcomes for any of the following three groups:

• Communities experiencing the greatest maternity inequities including Black, Asian, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
• Communities in geographical areas of highest deprivation, including in rural areas.
• People experiencing complex and multiple disadvantages, including existing and antenatal mental health needs