Raising your voice: Why the RCM Board elections matter
By Giuseppe Labriola, Chair RCM Board on 22 May 2023 RCM Board Elections Maternity Services RCM UK Midwives Midwifery Workforce Midwifery Equality and Diversity As ballot papers for the RCM Board elections begin to land on doormats, Giuseppe Labriola reflects on his time as Chair – and issues a call to action to all RCM […]
Celebrating midwifery: time to reset?
By Fiona Gibb, Director Professional Midwifery, RCM on 09 May 2023 Maternity Services RCM UK Midwives Midwifery Workforce IDM – International Day of the Midwife Midwifery NHS Staff Education Equality and Diversity Research Fiona Gibb, Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Director Professional Midwifery, shares ways that midwives can reclaim and promote our professional identity, with […]
IDM: what it means to be a midwife
By Gill Walton, General Secretary, RCM on 05 May 2023 Maternity Services RCM UK Midwives Midwifery Workforce IDM – International Day of the Midwife ICM – International Congress of Midwives Midwifery Midwife Shortage NHS Staff Safety Staffing Levels Trade Unions As we come together to celebrate International Day of the Midwife, RCM Chief Executive Gill […]
The First European Midwifery week
By Lia Brigante, RCM International Team on 04 May 2023 The European Nursing & Midwifery Week (#ENMW2023) was developed by EFNNMA, a collaborative organization of WHO Regional Office for Europe, to celebrate and recognise nurses and midwives in Europe. The 33th birthday of International Day of the Midwife (IDM) is fast approaching on the 5th of […]
MIDIRS Monthly – We need to talk about the Midwife Mental Health Crisis
By Rachel Housego on 28 April 2023 An Informal Introduction I am sitting here in a coffee shop, thinking about the profession, and the journey I began as a teenager, and it is with this hindsight (and a very large coffee) that I consider the ways in which midwifery has made me who I am […]
Scottish Government must act now to put more in maternity care
By Jackie Baillie MSP for Dumbarton, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care and Drugs Policy, and Scottish Labour Deputy Leader on 27 April 2023 Maternity Services RCM UK Midwives Midwifery Workforce Scottish Government Scottish Maternity Services Jackie Ballie, Member of the Scottish Parliament, writes for the RCM on the importance of […]
To be or not to be, that’s the question
By Veronica Blanco Gutierrez, registered nurse and midwife on 18 April 2023 Maternity Services RCM UK Midwives Midwifery Workforce Research I write these lines on the train while on my way to University. I am Veronica, and I am a registered nurse and midwife. I am currently undertaking a full-time PhD at the University of […]
Show me the money: the missing link in NHS England’s single delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services
By Sean O’Sullivan, Head of Health & Social Policy, RCM on 13 April 2023 Maternity Services RCM UK Midwives Midwifery Workforce The much-trailed three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services was finally published at the end of last month (30 March) by NHS England. The plan is intended to provide support to services in […]
Numberjacks: New calculations reveal growing midwife shortage
By Stuart Bona, Public Affairs Advisor on 05 April 2023 Maternity Services RCM UK Education Midwives Midwifery Workforce MSWs – Maternity Support Workers England Pay and Agenda For Change Government NHS Pay Review Body NHS England Politics The RCM’s Public Affairs Advisor, Stuart Bonar, explains how the midwife shortage in England is getting bigger, rather […]
Progress needs to be at pace, but not a snail’s pace
By Abbie Aplin, RCM Director Maternity Reform on 04 April 2023 Maternity Services RCM UK Education Midwives Midwifery Workforce MSWs – Maternity Support Workers England Pay and Agenda For Change Government NHS Pay Review Body NHS England Politics As another report details failings in maternity care, Abbie Aplin, the RCM’s Director for Maternity Reform, outlines […]