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 the issues affecting them and we’ve been working to make sure the report leads to action. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been doing to put your voices front and centre:
Taking our safe staffing asks direct to government: We met with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and ministers to make sure your voices were heard at the heart of government, raising the need for urgent further engagement with the RCM on wider workforce issues affecting midwives, including safe staffing.
Championing future midwives: We secured a £10 million package for Trusts in England to turn 1,000 vacant posts into jobs for newly qualified midwives. We’ve also been updating our Student Midwife Forum on our work to tackle the graduate jobs crisis, ensuring newly qualified midwives remain part of the wider conversation about graduate jobs.
Holding Government to account: At the first national maternity taskforce meeting, we challenged the DHSC and ministers on how the report’s recommendations would be matched with the funding, workforce planning and resources needed to deliver meaningful change.
Shaping the future of maternity services: We fed into discussions on the proposed Maternity Commissioner and Modern Service Framework, arguing for an independent commissioner who can hold Government to account, advocate for women, families and staff, and ensure maternity is central to wider women’s health planning with appropriate funding behind it.
Making sure the evidence is understood: Ahead of the Health Select Committee’s evidence session on midwifery education and vaginal birth, we met with the Chair to help inform the committee’s questioning and ensure the evidence from both the Amos and Ockenden reports was fully understood.
Listening to leaders on the ground: Through our Heads and Directors of Midwifery network, we’ve been gathering information from Trusts across England on the impact of the reports and pressing for stronger national leadership from NHSE to reduce the growing burden of assurance demands on maternity services. We also brought together midwifery leaders across the profession – One Midwifery Voice group – to hear what they think priority actions should be.
Improving how reviews are carried out: We provided feedback to the DHSC on the methodology of maternity reviews, highlighting lessons from recent reports and how the Leeds and Sussex reviews can better support learning and improvement.
Improving workplace culture: Through the National Perinatal Surveillance Model, we highlighted the challenges staff face when raising concerns about safe staffing and the importance of organisations responding constructively.
This work is happening every day, often behind the scenes, but with one clear goal: ensuring the recommendations in the recent reviews translate into meaningful improvements for women, babies and our members who care for them.
There’s still a long way to go, but we’ll continue to keep the pressure on until the change maternity services urgently need becomes reality.
