Women from minority backgrounds in UK less likely to receive epidurals, research finds

Exclusive: Guardian analysis exposes evidence of racial inequalities in pain relief offered across healthcare

• ‘The epidural failed and no one believed me’

• How the ethnicity pain gap follows people from birth to death

Women from Black and Asian backgrounds are less likely than their white counterparts to receive an epidural while giving birth, research has revealed.

The findings, based on data collected from more than 2.7 million births in the UK, prompted experts to raise the alarm about an “ethnicity pain gap” that means people of colour are more likely to be deprived of adequate pain relief within medical settings.