Death in pregnancy and childbirth is rare. But according to one report, there is a proportionally higher risk to black women than white. The chance of death is 1 in 2500 for black women according to the UK confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths. But the rate was five times smaller for white women between 2014 and 2016. The striking figures prompted a warning from the report's author: 'The almost fivefold higher mortality rate amongst black women compared with white women requires urgent explanation and action.'