Julie Richards, RCM Cymru Director, reflects on the conversation, challenges and calls for action from the Equity in Maternity zone at the Wales Mastering Diversity Conference.
There are some conversations that shouldn’t end when a conference does – which was very much the feeling at this year’s Wales Mastering Diversity Conference.
At this year’s conference, there were eight zones, each designed to listen and learn across different experiences. One of these zones was Equity in Maternity, and RCM Cymru was proud to be a part of it.
There was plenty to talk about. Our first panel focused on something which should sit at the heart of maternity care: women’s voices. We heard about the importance of listening to real stories and lived experiences, and making full use of the All Wales Maternity Service User Engagement.
Our second conversation looked at what happens when maternity care fails, how existing inequalities can make these failures even more devastating, and the opportunity Wales now has to make a difference through the Path to Safe Beginnings report.
Meaningful culture change needs commitment across the whole system, which is particularly challenging at a time when maternity services are facing significant financial pressures.
This brought us neatly to our third session: From insight to action.
One of the issues discussed was equitable access to midwifery training in Wales. Recently reduced commissioned places risk make that challenge even harder, at a time when the RCM’s Decolonising Toolkit is helping to create a more diverse and representative workforce.
RCM Cymru has long championed equality, diversity and inclusion – these are fundamental to safe maternity care, yet too many women and birthing people still face stark and unacceptable inequalities.
That thought felt particularly stark at the conference, which fell on the day the MBRRACE-UK report was published. As with previous years, the report showed that unacceptable inequalities persist. Black and Asian women continue to experience higher rates of maternal mortality, while women living in the most deprived communities are twice as likely to die.
There was one message which came through strongly on the day: midwives, student midwives and maternity support workers have a vital role to play in improving the health of women, families and communities, and in giving every baby the best possible start in life.
There was an opportunity to call for action, and RCM Cymru’s call to action was clear: We need safe staffing levels, alongside protected time and funding for midwives and maternity support workers to develop their cultural competence.
What struck me throughout the day was the expertise and passion in the room, which reflected the enthusiasm, commitment and drive to help make a real difference.
The message which stayed with me at the end of the day was: “We go together or not at all.”
RCM Cymru continues to stand ready to work in partnership to create safer, fairer and more inclusive maternity services for all. If we are serious about creating safer and more inclusive maternity services in Wales, the spirit of partnership must continue after the conference.
