The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has said it’s ‘hopeful’ the long-awaited Renfrew Report will bring about a much-needed reset of midwifery services in Northern Ireland.

Welcoming the report’s publication, the RCM said listening, understanding, and acting on the experiences of women and midwifery staff must be the driving force for change.

However, the RCM has warned that addressing the longstanding workforce challenges identified in the report is fundamental to delivering safe midwifery care. For far too long understaffing has meant that midwives can’t always deliver the high-quality care women, and their families need and deserve, said the College.

The report also identified inconsistency in the current provision of midwifery and maternity care. This reinforces the College’s call for better support for services to learn not only from where things go wrong but learning from best practice too.

Commenting, the RCM’s Director for Northern Ireland, Karen Murray, said;

“The RCM believes the recommendations contained within this report are measured and reflect much of what the RCM has been calling for. What’s needed now is to ensure we have the structures and mechanisms in place to enable this crucial improvement work to move forward and this must be underpinned by the right resources and investment. Ultimately, the RCM would like to see this work lead to a long-term maternity strategy for Northern Ireland. Above all, we must continue to listen to women, their families, maternity staff and the wider community, their lived experiences must be the catalyst for change.”

The report has shared some good examples of safe personalised care, good multidisciplinary working across the maternity team, and the sharing of quality information that enabled women to make informed decisions and choices that were right for them. However, some women’s experiences didn’t meet this gold standard of care, which the RCM said is disappointing.

The College said that maternity care should be easily accessible and so shares Prof Renfrew’s concern at women’s reduced access to midwifery services across rural areas and the closure of community units which is resulting in longer journeys for women in early labour. Understaffing and the lack of available equipment such as birthing pools has also meant that home birth services are limited which, said the RCM, affects the choice of birth options available to women.

The RCM says it’s clear that structural system-level challenges are adversely affecting all parts of maternity services and that often midwives working in community settings feel even less supported. The impact of this on the physical and mental health of midwives and MSWs) cannot be underestimated says the RCM. It means staff are burnt out and considering leaving the profession far sooner than they should, and with them goes years of experience and skills. Retaining midwifery staff should be more of a priority than ever, the RCM has cautioned.

Karen added:

“We are cautiously optimistic that this report can bring about the overdue changes that are needed to improve how maternity care is delivered in Northern Ireland. However, for that to happen, we need a system that supports midwives and maternity support workers to deliver good quality care. Every family deserves good experiences and quality care from maternity services. Sadly, we hear too often from midwives who describe working in such high-pressured circumstances that they are struggling to deliver high quality care. An increase in the number of more complex pregnancies means it’s never been more crucial to have the right staff, in the right place with the right skills and training to ensure women are getting the personalised and the specialist midwifery care they need.”

ENDS

For interview requests and to contact the RCM Media Office call 020 7312 3456, or email media@rcm.org.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

• The full report can be read here – Enabling Safe Quality Midwifery Services and Care in Northern Ireland.
• Midwives in Northern Ireland work thousands of unpaid hours to keep services running safely – Royal College of Midwives
• We must have a strategy to fix Northern Ireland’s growing maternity crisis, says RCM – Royal College of Midwives
• How to fix and improve maternity safety – Royal College of Midwives
• RCM to ask members in Northern Ireland how many extra hours they’ve worked – Royal College of Midwives
• How to stand up for higher standards
• How to fix: The midwifery staffing crisis – Royal College of Midwives

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team.  We provide workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance, and information, and learning opportunities with our broad range of events, conferences, and online resources. For more information visit the RCM | A professional organisation and trade union dedicated to serving the whole midwifery team.