Empowering Women: A Foundation for Healthy Communities – Mustard Development Agency's Approach
At the Mustard Development Agency, our vision is explicitly clear: a world where every child thrives, predicated on a foundation where women have access to essential healthcare. We firmly believe that women are the cornerstone of healthy communities. Our mission is to empower communities to effectively overcome pervasive women's health issues, which in turn serves as a powerful catalyst to break the enduring cycle of child poverty through sustainable and impactful solutions. This vision is particularly resonant in Wales, where persistent disparities in health and access to services underscore the urgent need for focused, transformative efforts. Millions of women globally, and certainly within Wales, grapple with challenges in accessing quality healthcare, creating a profound ripple effect that negatively impacts the well-being of their children and perpetuates cycles of poverty. By prioritizing and addressing women's health needs, we are not just providing medical services; we are creating a robust foundation upon which the next generation can truly flourish.
Our initiatives are meticulously focused on critical and often underserved areas of women's health:
• Maternal Health: A Crisis Demanding Action: The UK, while having one of the lowest maternal mortality ratios globally, faces glaring and persistent disparities in outcomes based on ethnicity. Most tragically, maternal mortality for Black women is currently almost four times higher than for White women, with significant disparities also affecting women of Asian and mixed ethnicity. These disparities have been documented for at least two decades but have only recently gained mainstream attention. The Mustard Development Agency, in line with the urgent calls from organizations like Five X More and Birthrights, supports providing comprehensive prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal care. This includes regular health check-ups, ensuring access to skilled birth attendants, and providing essential education on nutrition and childcare. This focus is especially critical in rural and underserved areas of Wales where access might be limited. The Welsh Government has recognized these issues, establishing the Maternity and Neonatal Safety Support Programme, co-designed with Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people, to improve outcomes and experiences for women and families facing health inequalities.
• However, systemic issues persist. The Continuity of Carer model, a cornerstone of the UK Government and NHS commitment to safer maternity services, is currently not implementable safely due to considerable staffing shortages across maternity services. There's an urgent need for the Government to increase the annual budget for maternity services to £200–350 million from the next financial year to address these shortages. Furthermore, the Maternity Disparities Taskforce, created to address these issues, has faced criticism for a lack of specific metrics or targets and infrequent meetings. There is a strong consensus among committees and stakeholders that a cross-government target and strategy, led by the Department of Health and Social Care, for eliminating maternal health disparities is urgently needed. This requires better, more accurate ethnicity data, as Black women are often underrepresented in research and data, hindering effective policymaking.
• Reproductive Health Services: Empowering Choices: Empowering women to make informed choices about their bodies and futures is paramount. This includes ensuring equitable access to a full range of contraception and family planning services, as well as comprehensive sexual health education. In Wales, geographical inequities in access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) exist. Unplanned pregnancies are a significant issue, with 45% of UK pregnancies being unplanned or ambivalent, leading to substantial healthcare costs and poorer outcomes for both mothers and children, including increased risk of mental health problems and challenges in school for children. Investing in safe, effective contraception is highly cost-effective, saving £9 for every £1 invested. The Welsh NHS Women's Health Plan also emphasizes that abortion care, a fundamental aspect of women's reproductive health, should be available locally and without delay to reduce complications and distress. The Mustard Development Agency supports such preventative approaches to women’s health, aligning with the "Prevention-Based Health and Care Framework".
• Mental Health: Addressing Overlooked Needs: Mental health is often critically overlooked, yet it is a profound aspect of women's overall well-being. Women in the UK are more likely to experience common mental disorders like anxiety or depression (19% of women compared to 12% of men), and in Wales, this figure is even higher for 16-44 year olds (22%). There is a concerning upward trend in mental ill health among young people, with girls and young women (10-24 years) being three times more likely to self-harm than males. Suicide rates among females are also increasing, reaching their highest point since 1994 in 2023. The intersectionality of identities plays a key role, with women from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups at particular risk and often feeling less 'heard' when interacting with healthcare professionals.
• The Mustard Development Agency champions accessible mental health services, support groups, and counseling to significantly improve women's well-being and their capacity to care for their families. We advocate for culturally competent approaches to mental health care, as studies indicate that people from minority ethnic backgrounds often fare less well in mental health systems due to a lack of services that meet their needs and a failure to recognize multiple identities (e.g., being both Black and gay). Tools like the "Cultural Competency Toolkit" developed by Diverse Cymru provide essential knowledge and skills for practitioners to deliver culturally appropriate and patient-centered services. The Welsh Government has also established a joint Task and Finish Group with the Wales Alliance for Mental Health to improve access and quality of mental health support for BAME people, and to address the unmet mental health needs of asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants.
• Chronic Disease Management: Preventing Long-Term Suffering: Chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer pose significant risks to women's health. For example, women are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and face a 50% higher chance of receiving a wrong initial diagnosis after a heart attack, with a 70% increased risk of death after 30 days compared to those correctly diagnosed. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) also disproportionately affects women (75-85% of individuals are female). Preventive care, early detection, and comprehensive management of these conditions are crucial. The Mustard Development Agency supports regular screenings, health education, and lifestyle modification programs that form the backbone of a comprehensive women's health strategy. The NHS Wales Women's Health Plan also focuses on reducing inequalities across the life course and emphasizes data quality to improve understanding of women's health.
• Addressing Violence Against Women: Rebuilding Lives: Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse, and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) critically impacts women's physical and mental health. A staggering 73% of women with financial links to their abuser felt the cost-of-living crisis prevented or made it harder for them to leave. Moreover, 75% of women experiencing domestic abuse and violence are targeted at work, leading to time off or job loss. A concerning 52% of women have reported being sexually harassed or abused in the workplace. The Welsh Government’s VAWDASV Act 2015 establishes a duty to remove or minimize factors that increase risk and provides a framework for support. The Mustard Development Agency works to ensure that readily available support services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other forms of abuse are easily accessible. This includes advocating for legal protections, safe shelters, and essential counseling services to help women recover and powerfully rebuild their lives. We support calls for NHS Wales to adopt a "Sexual Safety in Healthcare – Organisational Charter" to enforce a zero-tolerance approach to inappropriate sexual behaviors in the workplace.
Sustainable Strategies for Lasting Impact
To achieve this ambitious vision, we employ several key strategies:
• Community-Based Healthcare Models: We champion models that bring essential health services directly to women in remote and underserved areas of Wales. This can include mobile clinics, telehealth services, and community health workers, bridging critical gaps in healthcare access and ensuring cultural competency.
• Robust Collaborations: Our impact is magnified through strong partnerships between the government, the private sector, and non-profit organizations. These collaborations facilitate crucial funding, resource sharing, and innovative solutions, helping to address complex healthcare challenges more effectively.
• Awareness and Advocacy: We strive to raise awareness about the critical importance of women's health and available services through targeted education campaigns that promote healthy behaviors, preventive care, and regular health check-ups. Advocating for policies that enhance healthcare infrastructure, ensure equitable access, and protect women's rights is fundamental to creating sustainable change.
• Data-Driven Decision-Making: Conducting thorough research and collecting comprehensive data on women's health issues in Wales is paramount to informing better decision-making and resource allocation. This scientific approach allows us to truly understand the specific health needs and challenges faced by women in diverse communities, leading to more targeted and effective interventions and programs. The Welsh Government is investing £750,000 in women’s health research from April 2025 and seeks to establish a Women’s Health Research Centre.
Our vision of a world where every child thrives and women have access to essential healthcare is deeply rooted in the belief that healthy women form the very foundation of healthy families and resilient communities. By prioritizing women's health, we initiate a profound ripple effect that elevates the lives of children, significantly reduces poverty, and fosters sustainable development across Wales. This requires a multi-faceted approach, emphasizing collaboration, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to equity and justice. The Mustard Development Agency is dedicated to driving these efforts, working hand-in-hand with communities, healthcare providers, and policymakers to ensure that every woman in Wales has the opportunity to live a healthy and fulfilling life.
