Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), reflects on a pivotal week for maternity services, as “Super Tuesday” brings together national conversations, frontline voices and renewed momentum for change.

This week marks what we at the RCM are calling Super Tuesday, a moment to reflect on the work we are doing for our members and the collective action required to improve safety in maternity services across England. Although there is still much to do, I want to share the positive steps we have taken and the strong midwifery voice we are bringing into national discussions. 

A new Taskforce begins its work 

I attended the first meeting of the Secretary of State’s new Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce earlier this week. Its remit is significant, and it offers an opportunity to finally draw together a national plan for England that is coherent, properly funded, and clear about what safe, sustainable maternity care must look like. 

It is welcome that the Taskforce has begun its work, and I am pleased to contribute on behalf of the RCM. But I was clear in that meeting, and I want to be equally clear here, that the voices of frontline NHS midwives are still not adequately represented. Any national plan will only be credible if it is shaped by those delivering care every day. We will continue to push hard for practising midwives to be at the table, not just in the room. 

RCM members shaping the national investigation 

Another important step this week was the evidence session we secured with the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation team. We fought for this session because your insights and lived experience must be central to shaping the recommendations that will follow. 

I am incredibly proud of the five RCM members who took part: Arezou, Rachel, Lois, Gwendolin and Mia. Together, they represented the full breadth of our profession, from apprentices, MSWs, and midwives, through to Directors of Midwifery. Their testimony painted a vivid and honest picture of what is working, what is not, and what must change to make services safer. It was a powerful snapshot of midwifery today, rooted in real expertise and professional commitment. 

Placing your voices at the heart of our evidence 

Alongside this, we submitted our detailed written evidence to the Amos review. At its core are more than 11,000 words of testimony from members, sharing experiences that were personal, moving and often very difficult to read. This evidence ensures your voice leads our call for system-wide reform. 

Our submission centres on six essential areas: 

• Safe staffing: We need multiyear, ringfenced investment to restore and sustain safe staffing levels. Staffing models must reflect the real complexity of today’s care, not outdated assumptions. 

• Listening to staff: Services only improve when midwives feel safe to speak up, are listened to, and are fully involved in shaping service change. 

• Deliverable equity: True equity requires culturally competent, personalised care, stronger perinatal mental health support and accountability for tackling the disparities faced by women from the global majority. 

• Fit for purpose estates: Too many maternity units are ageing, unsafe or simply not designed for modern demand. We need targeted and transparent capital investment. 

• Clear accountability: National and local structures must support consistent improvement, backed by strong midwifery leadership at every level.

• Midwifery education: nationally aligned leadership, adequate staffing and educator capacity, protected learning time, and integrated workforce planning to ensure high quality, sustainable training and employment pathways for new midwives, safeguarding the future workforce and the quality of maternity care. 

These reforms are not optional. They are essential to restoring confidence, improving outcomes and securing a sustainable future for maternity services. 

Voices from across England: our briefing to MPs 

Finally, we brought together 30 Heads and Directors of Midwifery, representing around a quarter of all trusts in England, for a virtual briefing with the Health and Social Care Select Committee. They shared honest reflections on the pressures they face: 

• Deep concern about the cumulative impact of repeated reviews and investigations, which can feel predetermined and damaging to public confidence. 

• Frustration that positive practice and quality improvement too often go unnoticed. 

• Persistent pressures from staffing shortages, rising clinical complexity and demographic change. 

• A strong call for the new Taskforce to include senior practising midwives to ground its work in reality. 

• Anxiety about the long-term sustainability of the profession, including the impact of scrutiny and litigation on future leaders. 

• Serious concerns about current funding structures and the lack of a national service specification defining core maternity provision. 

These messages will be taken back to ministers and system leaders with absolute clarity. 

Standing together for change 

Super Tuesday is a reminder of the strength we have as a profession when we speak with one voice. The RCM will continue to push hard for safe services, investment, respect and fair treatment for every midwife, MSW, student and educator. 

My call to you is simple: stay engaged, stay vocal and stay united. Together, as one midwifery community, we have the power to shape the future of our profession and the care families deserve.