For four decades, the Midwives Information and Resource Service (MIDIRS) has played a distinctive role in disseminating maternity research in the UK and overseas. From its beginnings as a small working group of the Association of Radical Midwives (ARM) to its current position within the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), MIDIRS has sought to be at the forefront of providing evidence-based research to midwives, students and allied health professionals. In that time, MIDIRS has developed from its earliest ideas in the 1980s, through periods of growth and technological change. Looking back, we can reflect on how a clear mission, sustained over time, can shape maternity care practice. Although the way that MIDIRS operates has transformed considerably over the past four decades, its central aim has remained: to champion evidence-based practice and ensure that information on childbirth, pregnancy and infancy is accessible to all.