RCM welcomes long overdue pay award for members in Northern Ireland
A long overdue pay award has finally arrived for midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs) in Northern Ireland. In a letter to Health and Social Care unions the Minister for Health Mike Nesbitt has confirmed that RCM members in Northern Ireland will receive a pay rise of 5.5%. The proposed pay award is on par […]
Learning from national anti-D incidents
Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) has released a new safety notice focussing on the safe and timely administration of anti-D immunoglobulin (Ig) during the perinatal period. SHOT is the UK’s independent, professional-led haemovigilance scheme. Adverse events and information relating to the transfusion of blood and blood components, including anti-D Ig, are anonymously reported to SHOT […]
A look behind the headlines on Scotland’s maternity services
After a week of more news headlines on the safety of Scotland’s maternity services RCM’s Director for Scotland Jaki Lambert discusses the reality behind the headlines. No midwife or maternity care assistant (MCA) wants to see headlines about women and families not receiving the care they need. Yet this week that’s sadly what we’ve seen, […]
Government pay recommendation ‘not good enough’ says RCM
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has described the Government’s pay recommendation of 2.8% for 2025/26 as ‘not good enough’ and says it won’t meet the expectations of its hard-working members. Furthermore, moving the crucial structural negotiations which formed part of this year’s pay round into 2025/26 runs counter to the Government’s previous commitment of […]
Maternal care for pregnant migrant women needs radical improvement, says RCM
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is calling for migrant women to receive adequate language support, including translation services, and access to maternity care via multiple routes when they need it. The call comes as MBRRACE-UK published its State of the Nation report on the maternity care recent migrant women receive, which found that just […]
‘Urgent action needed to improve maternity outcomes for women and babies’
‘Maternal deaths linked to issues in pregnancy show just how desperately maternity services need more specialist midwives’ that’s the message from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) as it responds to analysis by the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London who reviewed data released between 2022 and 2024 from the National Patient […]
Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s 16 Days guest blog
Domestic abuse is fundamentally a public health issue, with wide ranging and well documented impacts on the mental and physical health of adult and child survivors. Healthcare settings provide a unique opportunity for professionals to intervene in domestic abuse, with research showing that survivors interact more with healthcare than other statutory agency. It is estimated […]
Invest to address: Eradicating inequality has to be a priority
Back in 2023 the RCM worked with a wide range of stakeholders to develop and launch its Decolonising midwifery education toolkit which aims to empower midwifery educators to challenge the legacies of colonial perspectives in all aspects of midwifery education. The toolkit is an important first step in ensuring that future midwives can practise with […]
Mission control: what do the PM’s new missions tell us about the direction of health?
Today [5 December 2024] Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Cabinet decamped to Pinewood Studios, home to James Bond and ‘Would I Lie to You?’, to launch the ‘Plan for Change’, an attempt to inject new purpose into the Government after a sometimes shaky first five months in power. Fixing the NHS is one of […]
RCM statement on barring women in Afghanistan from midwifery education
The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has made no secret of its intention to remove women from civic life. Since returning to power in 2021, they have imposed more and greater restrictions on women and girls, from taking away girls’ rights to education to taking away the voices of women and girls, literally, by forbidding them […]