Shakira asked if alternative medication to morphine was possible after her C-section.

"The nurse got angry," she says. "She threw the morphine away, and I was then left alone for hours."

And when Kadi was recovering from a fourth-degree vaginal tear, she lay alone in her hospital bed crying her eyes out.

She accuses staff of showing no compassion as she screamed in pain.

"The nurses just walked past me and literally ignored me," she says.

Stories from three separate women who were cared for in three different hospitals, but they all shared a similar experience - their pain was ignored, their concerns were dismissed, and they believe their race played a part in the treatment they received.

The government says tackling disparities in maternity care is a priority, calling the fact that black women are twice as likely to die during childbirth an "absolute outrage".

But behind the statistics are real women, living with the consequences.

So what does it actually feel like to be a black woman navigating maternity care in this country, when race is so intrinsically linked to risk?

"I haven't felt supported, I haven't felt safe, I haven't felt like my pain was taken seriously," says Tenisha Howell, 33, who has five children.

"I have a lot of experiences that I can draw from, and it's sad to say that a lot of them have been quite negative," she says.

Tenisha says her most recent birth was "probably one of the most traumatic experiences" she has ever had.

She was screaming in agonising pain as the gas and air she was given was beginning to wear off. The response from her midwife?

"She told me to shut up multiple times and then she put her hand over my mouth to basically say, 'be quiet'," Tenisha explains.

"That was very disheartening. It was very sad."

When Shakira Akabusi, 38, gave birth to her second son, she was "down on all fours, clinging to the wall, asking for medication".

But she says she was "denied repeatedly, ignored", and "left for hours".

"It was a horrifying experience, to be in so much pain, to be asking for help and nobody listening to you."

Dr Michelle Peter, co-author of the Five X More Black Maternity Experiences Report, says: "This kind of dismissal of black women's pain and refusal to provide adequate pain relief when it's requested is a common experience amongst the black women who have shared their experiences with us."

The Black maternal experiences report gathered responses from 1,164 black and mixed-heritage women across the UK who had been pregnant between July 2021 and March 2025.

Of these women, 54% said they experienced challenges with healthcare professionals, while almost a quarter reported not receiving pain relief when it was requested.

"This is kind of linked to historical, but also ongoing, racialised assumptions about black people's tolerance to pain, their vulnerability or their strengths," says Dr Peter.

None of the women Sky News spoke to mentioned racial slurs, instead they suggested there was something more insidious.

"It's the subtle things that they do, or don't do that makes you think, 'hold on, why are they ignoring me? Why are they being so dismissive? So hostile?'" says Kadi Wilson, 43.

Kadi continues to suffer from the birthing injuries she sustained 15 years ago.

After multiple complications, she suffered a fourth-degree vaginal tear, the most severe kind.

She says after her baby was finally delivered, she felt a sense of relief. But that euphoria wouldn't last long.

Kadi says she began "throwing up in the theatre room because of all the drugs they've pumped into me".

She remembers that she "looked down and I just see all this blood everywhere, and I am like, 'oh my gosh, what has happened?'"

However, she says the medical staff failed to provide her with the answers or care she required.

"I was pressing that call button and no one came.

"I was crying my eyes out in that ward, and the nurses were just going past me... it was very cold, it was a very dismissive environment."

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The government's independent investigation into maternity and neonatal services, which is being led by Baroness Amos, has reported too many women, from all backgrounds, continue to receive "unacceptable care", which leads to "tragic outcomes".

One of its aims is to explore the "impact of discrimination against women of colour".

"This is not about pitting women against one another and diminishing any one woman's singular experience," explains Dr Peter.

She highlights that maternity services are under a lot of pressure, working in challenging circumstances.

But, she says: "If this was purely a resource or capacity issue, then what we would expect to see is that these poor outcomes would be more evenly distributed across women from all backgrounds, and that isn't what we are seeing.

"What we need to recognise is that for women who are black, these outcomes are experienced at a greater rate and disproportionately so - and we need to ask why."

While medical professionals and government officials undertake the work to find solutions, women of colour continue to experience these problems.

When asked what it feels like to know that her race puts her more at risk, Tenisha says "it causes a lot of stress".

"Constantly thinking, is this the time I am going to pass away? Is my husband going to have to raise the children by themselves? These are the thoughts I had," she admits.

"It's a sad thing to know, but it's the reality."

Shakira says the treatment left her "so scared" that she felt like she "couldn't speak out".

"To be made to feel inferior because of the colour of your skin... it feels so dehumanising," she adds.

Meanwhile, Kadi says she wanted to share her story so that people understand that "when we see the statistics, you have to first of all: look at the faces and the people behind it".

Baroness Merron, parliamentary under-secretary of state for patient safety, women's health and mental health, says it is "absolutely unacceptable that black and Asian women are more likely to die in childbirth than those who are white".

She says: "To be in that position in this day and age is an absolute outrage."

Baroness Merron says the independent investigation will focus on inequalities, adding: "I very much look forward to implementing what we can from that. I am already taking action in terms of tackling discrimination and racism across the NHS because it can't wait any longer."

Have you been affected by poor maternity care? Email maternitystories@sky.uk

A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place in Scotland from 3pm on Monday until 10am on Tuesday.

A separate yellow warning for ice has been issued for huge swathes of England and Scotland from 6pm on Monday until 10am on Tuesday.

Northern Ireland also has a yellow warning for ice in place from 8pm on Monday until 10am on Tuesday.

The Met Office said: "Areas of rain, sleet, and hill snow will move southeastwards through Monday evening and night before clearing to the North Sea.

"Whilst some patchy accumulations of snow will be possible, more especially on ground above 150-200m elevation, ice will be a greater hazard as temperatures fall fairly quickly once showers clear away.

"In addition, a period of strong northwesterly winds are also likely along some North Sea coasts later in the night and into Tuesday morning."

It warned of the risk of "injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces" as well as "probably some icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths".

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency urged the public to stay vigilant amid the continuing risk of floods.

There are 75 flood warnings - where flooding is expected - already in place across England. The Environment Agency has also issued a further 189 flood alerts, where flooding is described as possible.

Jonathan Day, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said more than 24,000 homes and businesses have been protected, but around 330 have been flooded.

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Met Office operational meteorologist Dan Stroud said there is the possibility of some black ice and slippery surfaces, adding people should take extra care.

He said: "Monday really is a day of sunny spells and blustery showers.

"Overnight Monday into Tuesday we will see a frosty start. It's going to be a largely dry day, some decent amounts of winter sunshine.

"But it does start to go downhill later in the day, from the south and the west we've got a broad area of cloud and rain pushing in south-west England and South Wales late on Tuesday, during the course of Wednesday this will bring a mix of rain, sleet and hill snow."

Mr Stroud added: "We do need to keep an eye on this system, there's the potential for snow warnings to be issued.

"Thursday into Friday will be largely dry with some clear skies, turning milder towards the end of the week."

A six-page letter sent to Congress by Attorney General Pam Bondi over the weekend included a list of high-ranking politicians, including the likes of President Donald Trump, Barack Obama and former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Also named was Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, whose royal and military titles were removed in light of his links to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and Peter Mandelson, who recently quit the Labour Party and resigned from the House of Lords following more revelations about his relationship with Epstein.

The list also included celebrities including Mick Jagger, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, George Clooney, Beyonce, Cher and Janis Joplin.

Both Andrew and Mr Mandelson have denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

Being named in the files does not suggest wrongdoing and some of those names featured in the list may not have had any correspondence or interaction with Epstein.

The attorney general claimed the list of names included all those who "are or were a government official or politically exposed person", as well as people whose name has appeared in the files released under the act at least once.

The letter stated the DoJ has released all "records, documents, communications and investigative materials in the possession of the Department" as required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

It added: "No records were withheld or redacted 'on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary'."

It comes after more than three million more documents related to disgraced financier Epstein, including email exchanges, more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, were released on 30 January.

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Democrat Ro Khanna, who wrote the Epstein Files Transparency Act alongside Republican Thomas Massie, criticised the list, saying: "The DOJ is once again purposefully muddying the waters on who was a predator and who was mentioned in an email.

"To have Janis Joplin, who died when Epstein was 17, in the same list as Larry Nassar, who went to prison for the sexual abuse of hundreds of young women and child pornography, with no clarification of how either was mentioned in the files is absurd.

"Release the full files. Stop protecting predators. Redact only the survivor's names."

Mr Massie also criticised the DoJ's approach to the Epstein files' release, telling ABC's This Week On Sunday: "They're citing deliberative process privilege in order not to release some of the documents.

"The problem with that is the bill that Ro Khanna and I wrote says that they must release internal memos and notes and emails about their decisions on whether to prosecute or not prosecute, whether to investigate or not investigate."

He added: "I know the DOJ wants to say they're done with this document production.

"The problem is they've taken down documents before we were able to go over to the DOJ and look at the unredacted versions. They took down some of the most significant documents."

The names of both Mr Khanna and Mr Massie also appeared on the list.

Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in August 2019 shortly after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges.

Sky News has contacted the Department of Justice for comment.

Dana Eden was in Greece filming the fourth season of the show, Israeli state broadcaster Kan reported.

Police said she was found dead on Sunday in a hotel room and an investigation had been launched.

The 52-year-old Israeli was found after a relative made several failed attempts to reach her.

The cause of death has not been confirmed but police said it was being treated as suicide based on evidence and testimonies.

International production company Donna and Shula Productions released a statement dismissing any "unfounded" rumours about the death.

"This is a moment of great sorrow for the family, friends, and colleagues," it said.

"The production company wishes to clarify that rumours regarding a criminal or nationalistic-related death are not true and are unfounded."

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It also urged the media and the public to refrain from publishing unverified claims.

Tehran has been a huge hit for Apple TV and stars Niv Sultan, Hugh Laurie and Shaun Toub.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

During an appearance Saturday on Brian Tyler Cohen's podcast, the former US president was asked if aliens are real.

"They're real, but I haven't seen them," Mr Obama replied.

Mr Obama also responded to a racist video shared by Donald Trump on social media that depicted him and his wife, Michelle Obama, as apes.

The ex-president did not mention Mr Trump by name, but said the "decorum" and "respect for... office" that used to guide US officials had been lost.

Posting a message on Instagram to clear up what he meant by the aliens comments, the 44th president said: "I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it's gotten attention let me clarify.

"Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there.

"But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we've been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extra-terrestrials have made contact with us. Really!"

During the podcast interview, Mr Obama, 64, also said aliens were not being kept at Area 51, an Air Force base in Nevada.

"There's no underground facility, unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States," Mr Obama said.

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Mr Cohen then asked what Mr Obama's first question was after becoming president.

"Uh, where are the aliens?" he quipped.

Mr Obama has also previously commented on the possible existence of extra-terrestrial life.

During a 2021 appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Mr Obama said that after he took over as president, he sought information on aliens and whether they were being studied in a secret lab. He was told the answer was "no".

But Mr Obama said officials are seriously investigating aerial phenomena that behave in seemingly unexplainable ways.

"There is footage and records of objects in the skies that we don't know exactly what they are," he said.

"We can't explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. I think people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is."