Consultant midwives play a crucial role in contributing to the delivery of safe high-quality maternity care for women and their families across Wales.
That is the message the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) took to Senedd Cymru this week.
Attending the first Cross Party Group on Nursing and Midwifery meeting of 2025 at the Senedd, the RCM voiced calls and recommendations from its work to ensure that maternity services have the right staff in the right places with the right education and training to meet the growing complexity of the women using Welsh maternity services.
The RCM says that includes having a minimum of two consultant midwives in every health board in Wales to ensure maternity services can meet the needs of the communities they serve is key. Equally the work of lead midwives for education in ensuring the quality of the next generation of midwives can’t be underestimated, says the RCM.
Commenting, RCM’s Director for Wales, Julie Richards, said:
“Clinical expertise alongside effective and inclusive leadership are key factors in improving safety in maternity services and consultant midwives are central to this. That is why we cannot overlook the importance of the role consultant midwives play in leading service development and improvements. They undertake a range of responsibilities, including providing clinical expertise, promoting evidence-based practice and supporting and mentoring other midwives. Given the increasing complexities facing some women during pregnancy, it’s never been more important that we get this right and that’s the message we took to politicians in the Senedd. Equally having a Lead Midwife for Education is vital for the future of our midwifery services as they can identify areas of risk and implement management strategies to ensure the quality of midwifery education programmes are maintained in Wales.”
The RCM says it has looked at the role, not only in Wales but across the UK, and found that the numbers of consultant midwives have been static for the last five years, with just 100 across the UK. In Wales there is currently just one consultant midwife in seven of its eight health boards. The RCM says it is calling for the need to have two in each service. It’s also highlighted the need to get thorough succession planning in place so the skills and expertise are not lost.
Amplifying the voice of consultant midwives in Wales, the Chair of Consultant Midwife Cymru Victoria Owens joined RCM staff at the Senedd and shared how the role advocates for women-centred care and promotes best practice among midwifery staff. The meeting also enabled the RCM to share more on its consultant midwife and lead midwife for education leadership project and updates on several initiatives it has launched to support midwives, including its popular RCM Wales and Welsh Government leadership programme.
Juile added:
“In Wales we continue to work with the Welsh Government to run our annual midwifery leadership programme. This provides a cohort of midwives from across NHS Wales to participate in leadership development opportunities. If this is something that interests you, please do get in touch with us. The role the RCM has in strengthening leadership in the midwifery profession is not something we take lightly. Empowering midwives to become effective leaders, driving change and shaping the future of midwifery care is central to what the RCM does for its members.”
You can read more about the Consultant Midwife and Lead Midwife for Education leadership project here and more details on a range of RCM leadership programmes available to RCM members can be found here.
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