Imagine | Summer 2025
A digital magazine from Irwin Mitchell
“Access to fair maternal health for all is a right, not a privilege”
Spotlight on Geeta Nayar
“Access to fair maternal health for all is a right, not a privilege”
Spotlight on Geeta Nayar
Senior Associate Solicitor, Geeta Nayar is passionate about women’s health equity and addressing disparities in maternal outcomes for women who may face cultural, language and other barriers.
In 2008 during the birth of her first child, Geeta sustained life-changing obstetric injuries and had to undergo extensive medical treatment. During her labour, Geeta raised her concerns that something wasn’t right, but no one listened. Her traumatic delivery caused injuries that have had a lasting impact.
Geeta’s journey has driven her to become an advocate and strong campaigner for maternal health. By sharing her experience, she gives visibility to other women. She also collaborates with healthcare professionals, charity partners and policy makers to drive positive change in maternity care.
In 2024, Geeta shared her experience as an expert in maternity safety at the UK’s first national inquiry into birth trauma. Her testimony, alongside other key stakeholders, underscored the urgent need for improved maternity care practices and increased awareness surrounding birth trauma. She’s regularly invited to speak at webinars, hospital trusts and major health conferences to share our campaigning work and in June 2024, pioneered the inaugural South Asian Maternal Health Conference at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) to facilitate discussion on national policy and health equity. This year, Geeta was invited to speak at the RCOG World Congress and also organised the first Irwin Mitchell event spotlighting the long term and potentially devastating impact of severe perineal injuries during childbirth.
Q&A
We asked Geeta for her perspective on the work she does as well as the disparities in maternal health.
How has your own experience and the journey to becoming a maternity safety advocate shaped your interest in this field?
There is a huge amount of power behind the advocacy of lived experience and many of the campaigners I work closely with such as the former MP, Theo Clarke, have also had their own experiences of birth trauma. I started speaking about my experiences over 10 years ago to give a voice to other women when no one else was talking about maternal injuries and the long-term consequences. This developed into peer support and subsequently working closely with policy makers and health care professionals. As a firm, we represent hundreds of mothers and parents impacted by stillbirth, neonatal death, birth injuries and maternal injuries. Having been injured myself I don’t want anyone else to go through a similar experience.
What do you think of the progress that’s being made towards addressing the imbalances in maternal care for underrepresented communities?
There’s well established data around racial and systemic disparities in maternity care thanks to reports by organisations such as MBRRACE-UK and FiveXMore. Black, mixed heritage and Asian women have higher maternal mortality rates and a higher risk of stillbirth and preterm births.
Progress is being made with culturally competent training and equitable technology development such as pulse oximetry measurement, but there needs to be more sustained intervention. I’m very proud of the patient safety and advocacy work we are doing at Irwin Mitchell, providing equity of justice and healthcare to women who have experienced adverse maternal outcomes whilst creating positive change for the future generations. I hope the recent national maternity announcement by Wes Streeting will also look to tackle maternal health disparities in underserved communities.
What’s the biggest piece of advice you have for women when it comes to being an advocate for maternal health?
I’m a strong advocate for ante-natal education and gave live evidence about how vital this is at the parliamentary enquiry into birth trauma and at the recent 2025 RCOG World Congress. Women need to be given access to high quality information and education so they can advocate for themselves and give true informed consent – a right of every woman.
Why are there ethnicity disparities in maternal health outcomes?
There are many reasons why there are disparities in maternal outcomes. Some of these stem from systemic inequalities, including the impact of language and cultural barriers. However, there’s now more research funding available to look at the reasons behind the disparities, a focus on education and training and public and professional engagement which is driving positive change.
We’re proud to be working closely with Theo Clarke, Founder of the Global Birth Trauma Alliance, in her mission to spark vital conversations around birth injuries and drive meaningful change in maternal healthcare.
As part of this collaboration, we sponsor her Breaking the Taboo podcast. In recognition of Birth Trauma Awareness Week, we also took part in a special episode focused on life after birth injury—helping to amplify the voices of those affected and highlight the support available.
In the powerful episode, our partner, Leena Savjani, joins Theo and Ailsa Adams—a mother of three who experienced a severe birth injury—to explore vital topics such as accessing perinatal mental health services, navigating the complaints process, requesting a birth debrief or reflections, and understanding options for repair surgery. They also discuss how to obtain your medical records and the realities many women face in the aftermath of birth trauma.
Legal support
If you, or a loved one, has experienced a birth injury our experts are here to help. They’ll come to you with an understanding and sensitivity about your situation and work to get answers from those responsible, so you can look towards the future.