RCM member feedback helps shape new support for breastfeeding employees in Wales
Feedback from Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Cymru members has helped drive a new initiative to better support breastfeeding employees across Wales. The work began after members shared their experiences through the RCM’s Caring for You survey in 2023, highlighting the need for better support for employees returning to work while continuing to breastfeed. Now, as part of World […]
From bore da to birth: a new Welsh course for midwives
Midwives across Wales are being offered the opportunity to learn Welsh, with a brand new course developed specifically for the profession. The course will give midwives the practical language and confidence to use Welsh in everyday practice – from greeting a woman on her first appointment to supporting her through labour and beyond. It’s designed […]
Changes in midwifery education must not create new barriers for students, RCM tells the NMC
Increasing midwifery programmes from three years to four years won’t benefit students unless the final year is a funded internship, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has said in response to a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) consultation into education standards. The consultation explores a number of changes regarding how future midwives are educated and trained, including proposals around programme length, practice […]
One month on from Baroness Amos’ report, what’s been happening? A round-up of RCM activity
It’s been one month since Baroness Amos’ National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation laid bare the scale of the challenges facing maternity services in England. The report highlighted what midwives have been saying for years: chronic understaffing, under-investment, systemic failings and racism are putting women, babies and staff at risk. A month on, the RCM hasn’t been waiting for change. Our members have been telling us about […]
Giving babies more time before cord clamping could improve outcomes, new paper shows
New evidence has shown that giving babies a few extra minutes before clamping the umbilical cord can improve their health and, for premature babies, even save lives. The research has been gathered in a new Scientific Impact Paper, Care of the Newborn and Cord during the Third Stage of Labour, from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), which the […]
Cardiff University wins national award for making midwifery education more diverse and inclusive.
In 2023, very few of the students on Cardiff University’s midwifery programme were from the Global Majority. By 2025, they made up 15% of the cohort. That shift is the result of three years of work to broaden access to midwifery education and transform the experience of those who study it. The Cardiff University midwifery team […]
RCM calls for Northern Ireland maternity strategy to be brought forward without delay
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is supporting calls for urgent action on maternity services in Northern Ireland, after Professor Mary Renfrew, author of a landmark 2024 review, said the opportunity for reform “has been missed.” Nearly two years on, with no maternity strategy in place since 2018, the RCM says mothers, babies and families […]
RCM campaign secures funding from Government for jobs for newly qualified midwives in England
The Royal College of Midwives has also secured a commitment from the Government on safe staffing talks Government funding for conversion of 1,000 jobs for newly qualified midwives A strengthened workforce will help deliver safer care for women and babies Newly qualified midwives in England will have access to an extra 1,000 new roles by the end of 2026 after the RCM secured funding from the Government following a hard-fought campaign. The RCM has been calling on the Government to find a long-term solution to the graduate midwifery […]
The RCM responds to Baroness Amos’ national maternity and neonatal review
Chief Executive Gill Walton responds to today’s publication of Baroness Amos’s national maternity and neonatal review, saying it confirms that chronic understaffing and a decade of under-investment has left midwives unable to consistently deliver safe care for women and babies. Gill said: “Behind this report are families who lost babies, who were not listened to […]
RCM response to Sunday Times article: ‘Midwifery is a distinct and highly skilled profession’
Responding to coverage in the Sunday Times about the suggestion that routes into midwifery education should be changed to make nursing education mandatory before starting midwifery, Fiona Gibb, Director of Midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives, said: “Midwifery is a distinct and highly skilled profession which is essential to the safety of women and babies. “The UK has some of the strongest midwifery education standards anywhere; what’s missing […]