Background Racial and ethnic inequalities in maternal health outcomes are widely documented and growing. Ethnic minority groups have higher mortality rates during pregnancy and perceive providers communicate with them poorly. Initiatives that aim to improve communication may reduce health inequalities and enhance quality of care for racial and ethnic minority groups. This research aims to identify antenatal and perinatal initiatives that aim to improve communication with ethnic minority women and pregnant people. A secondary aim is to assess the quality of these initiatives.

Methods A rapid evidence review was conducted. The approach drew on integrated knowledge transition, where researchers work closely with knowledge users, systematically searching of academic databases, and quality appraisal using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A community of practice involving practitioners and those with lived experience of pregnancy services shaped the review.

Results The results showed around 30 initiatives that aimed to improve communication. These included initiatives that provided additional individuals such as buddies, group-based initiatives, translation, technology, education and information, and organisational and provider-level initiatives such as cultural competency training. Despite the diversity of interventions identified, effectiveness evaluations were limited. Many initiatives appeared to target service users rather than providers.

Discussion Although many initiatives aim to improve communication with ethnic minority women and pregnant people, it is unclear whether these initiatives achieve their aim. A limitation of this study is that the initiatives identified may not address all needs and barriers documented by service users, such as lack of trust in service providers. Future research could synthesise existing barriers and map them onto these initiatives. More effectiveness evaluations that include cost-effectiveness analyses are needed.