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Raising mixed-race children

Raising mixed-race children, Breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson, Maternal mental health.

The most recent research from the Office for National Statistics suggests that more than 950,000 people in England identify as "mixed race". How do parents raise children whose ethnic identity is different from their own? How important are cultural values when your child has a dual-heritage? Fariba Soetan's daughters are Iranian-Nigerian and she runs a parenting advice blog specifically for mixed race families. Laura Kirwan-Ashman is a filmmaker whose work focuses on the experiences of young mixed race women. Her parents are white British and black Caribbean.

Ian Paterson was a trusted and well respected breast surgeon, but last week a court found him guilty of intentionally wounding nine women and one man. Gail Boichat was one of those affected; she was convinced by Ian Paterson that she had breast cancer when she didn't and underwent a mastectomy. Kashmir Uppal is a medical negligence lawyer who represented Gail and many others who were treated by Ian Paterson.

In February the report 'Maternal Mental Health - Women's Voices' was published. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists surveyed more than 2300 women across the UK asking for their experiences to find out how services could better support perinatal mental health for expectant and new mothers. The following month, NHS England published a 5 year plan boosting the number of mental health mother and baby units and increasing the number of specialist perinatal mental health teams. But as our reporter Jac Philimore discovered, these problems aren't easy to talk about, or even recognise in the first few months of new motherhood.

Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Laura Northedge.

Available now

54 minutes

Chapters

  • Breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson

    Duration: 11:10

  • Raising mixed race children

    Duration: 11:28

  • Women in One - Glasgow

    Duration: 03:23

  • Maternal mental health

    Duration: 14:14

Maternal Mental Health


Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jenni Murray
Producer Laura Northedge
Interviewed Guest Fariba Soetan
Interviewed Guest Laura Kirwan-Ashman
Interviewed Guest Gail Boichat
Interviewed Guest Kashmir Uppal

Broadcast

  • Wed 3 May 2017 10:00

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