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 […]
RCM takes student midwife jobs crisis directly to Health Secretary
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has this week met with the Health Secretary James Murray to continue pressing for urgent action to support newly qualified midwives in England who are struggling to secure a job. Earlier this year, the RCM released figures which showed a staggering one in three newly qualified midwives had been unable to secure a […]
RCM urges employers to protect maternity staff and women during heatwave
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is calling on NHS employers to help keep staff, women and babies safe and comfortable during the heatwave – and to urgently invest in maternity facilities that are increasingly unsuitable during periods of extreme heat. The call comes as the UK experiences its second heatwave of 2026, with temperatures expecting to hit 38c this week. The RCM’s ongoing campaign ‘Your birthplace, […]
Nine in ten midwives say unsafe staffing levels affects the quality of care for women and babies
New survey data from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has laid bare the scale of the safety crisis in NHS maternity services – with nine in ten midwives saying staffing levels directly affect the care they can provide to women and babies. The findings, from a survey of 3,523 midwives, maternity support workers and midwifery students […]