CANDICE BRATHWAITE has given her followers the latest update on a documentary about black maternal mortality that was in the works.

Two days ago, presenter and former pop star Rochelle Humes announced on Instagram that she was making an investigative documentary about black women’s maternal care.

Not long after, Candice posted that she thought she was presenting a documentary on the same topic until six weeks ago.

She had been contacted by a production company in March 2020, and they had been in talks for the past nine months.

She wrote: “I’m not sure what happened. But it’s not meant to be. Although it will always be something I’m passionate about, I have to set my ego aside because it’s not only I who tried to highlight the disturbing data when it came to black women dying in childbirth.

“It’s a group effort. It always has been. So as gutted as I was the message remains the same and it’s such a serious issue that we should hold space no matter who is narrating the story. What is happening and what can we do to fix it? Hopefully documentaries, books and most importantly LISTENING TO BLACK WOMEN, will help fix things.”

The author, presenter and founder of online platform Make Motherhood Diverse received an outpouring of support. Many pointed out Candice’s expertise on the topic, others mentioned her advocacy for other mothers and her firsthand traumatic birth experience.

It was pointed out that Leigh-Anne Pinnock had presented a documentary on colourism. Many were concerned that the casting continued a worrying trend of erasing black women and their contributions.

An outpouring of support

A room on social media application Clubhouse considered whether the documentary should be boycotted altogether.

In response, Candice told her fans: “I can’t keep up with you lots messages. The love is real. I need a moment to gather myself, real talk. The end goal is the same I’m gonna work hard enough to become a gate keeper.

“The key is ownership. I don’t come this far just to come this far. Big love to all the dark skinned women in my inbox who are using it as a safe space.”

Now, it has emerged that the producer behind Rochelle Humes’ documentary called Candice Braithwaite to tell her she was never in the running to present that documentary.

Candice had been talking with a different production company since March. However, the production company that cast Rochelle Humes got commissioned first.

The production company behind Rochelle’s production company, prefer presenters to be removed from the subject – however they had contacted Candice for her expertise on the subject matter.

She explained: “I declined as I don’t want my trauma to be mined for a show where I have no control of the narrative.”

Candice’s agents had also asked whether she could co-present with Rochelle, but were told this was not a possibility.

She ended by saying: “At the end of the day I cannot overstate enough how important it is for this issue to be spoken about until we are able to save more black women.

“On a personal note I’ve learned a lot and I’m thinking carefully about my future in TV on the whole.”

Rochelle Humes has since limited comments on her Instagram post about the documentary.

A request for comment has been sent to both women’s agents.