Throughout my career, the RCM has been by my side. I’ve worked in different settings, both in overseas development and within the UK, and at various levels within and outside of the NHS. Throughout my various career choices, the College has been a constant professional companion. Now I’m chair of the RCM Board, something I’m incredibly proud of, not least because Board members are elected by our peers, by midwives, MSWs and MCAs across the UK. On your behalf, we help shape the direction of the RCM, to make sure it reflects and meets your needs. It’s an important job and one which I – or, indeed, any of the Board members – don’t take lightly.

Over the past six months, we have been working on the development of a new strategy for the RCM. At the very heart of this process has been listening to members. Many of you took the time to complete our survey last year, which gave us lots of incredibly valuable information. We really appreciated your honesty, talking about the things you didn’t feel we were getting right, as well as the things we are. I cannot stress how useful this is as your College. We would never improve if we don’t know when we are not quite hitting the mark for you or know how to capitalise on the strengths when we are getting it right.

Your feedback helped the Board define the three key areas for this new strategy. You told us that you wanted the RCM to support and empower you to:

• Improve your working life;
• Amplify your voice;
• Build our midwifery community.

Of course, being midwives, MSWs and aspiring midwives, you are going to want to know what that means in practice. It’s important to remember that a strategy is our guiding star, it’s not an operational plan, but it does have a framework that the RCM will operate within.

We know that it’s tough at the moment, whether you’re a student or if you are working in practice or education. That’s why our first aspiration is to improve your working life. To do that, we’re going to work even harder to ensure you’re properly valued, through fair terms and conditions, and that workplace cultures nurture and respect you. We’re also going to provide evidence-based guidance to support you and your practice and so be the best you can be.

Sometimes it can feel like the only time midwifery or maternity care is mentioned, it’s in a negative way which is hard to hear of a profession you love and to which you are giving your all. We want to change that, by using our position and our platforms to share the incredible work that is going on every minute of every day in every corner of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. We know that hearing direct from those providing the care or the education or undertaking the research is incredibly powerful, so we’re going to create even more opportunities for you to share your stories. And, at the most practical level, we’re going to continue to press for more midwifery representation at Executive Board level within Trusts and Boards, so that the voices of the midwifery community are heard and we can accelerate positive change in the workplace.

Our midwifery community encompasses midwives working across a broad range of clinical and academic settings, maternity support workers, maternity care assistants and, of course, student midwives. We want to build our community even further, offering more opportunities to come together to share ideas and build an inclusive environment where all our members feel valued and represented. We’re going to embrace the opportunities that technology offer, but also make sure there are chances for us to come together in person.

Over the next few weeks, RCM staff will be coming out to branch annual general meetings (AGMs) and sharing more about the new strategy. But most importantly, they’re going to be listening to you, our members, to hear what you think and what you want to see coming out of the strategy. Like this strategy, what we do is shaped by you and we are excited and look forward to working with you on improving your working life, amplifying your voice and building our midwifery community.