- Conference
- Programme
- Day two
Conference Programme
Day two - 1 May
- Plenary
Supporting minds, nurturing futures: Advancing perinatal mental health care
- Heather O'Mahen, Professor of Perinatal and Clinical Psychology/National Clinical Advisor, University of Exeter/ NHS England
- Chris Wasley, Postpartum Psychosis Awareness Campaigner
- Amy Lewis, Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Midwife, Betsi Cadwalder University Health Board
Resources
From evidence to action: Integrating research into clinical practice
- Judith Cutter, Consultant Midwife, Cardiff & Vale University Health Board
- Dr Jenny McNeill, Reader midwifery research, Queen's University Belfast
- Katrina Rigby, NIHR Senior Research Leader/Senior Research Midwife/Women & Children's Research Team Leader, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Resources
Session details -Keynote
Helping to shape the future of midwifery research
- Jenny Cunningham, research advisor, The Royal College of Midwives
- Dr Jude Field, research advisor, The Royal College of Midwives
Resources
Stronger together: Building our midwifery community
- Caroline Diamond, Assistant Director for Women's Health and Head of Midwifery, Northern Health and Social Care Trust
- Alison Jones, Clinical and Operational Lead Midwife, Hywel Dda UHB
- Robert Moore, Practice Development mMdwife with focus on maternity support workers, Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust
- Jen Pearce, Midwife, Hywel Dda UHB
Close
- Gill Walton, Chief Executive, General Secretary and Chief Midwife, RCM
- Breakout 1
Stronger together: Collaborative workforce planning
- Wendy Drysdale, Retired Professional Advisor
- Richard Griffin, Chair of Birthrate Plus Board and Professor of Healthcare Management, King's College London, Birthrate Plus
- Kathy Murphy, Director of Nursing & Midwifery, Manchester Foundation Trust
Resources
Supporter session: Whole genome sequencing at birth: the generation study and the importance of genomics in midwifery.
- Lindsay Rattan, Case Manager for Genomics England
- Katie Handley, Clinical Lead for Maternal and Child Health at Genomics England
- Phern Adams, Lead Research Midwife & Generation Study Project Manager, Birmingham Women’s Hospital
Lindsay Rattan, Case Manager for Genomics England, will open the presentation with an overview of what genomics is, and its integral importance in midwifery as identified by NMC proficiencies. After a brief introduction to DNA, genes and genomics, Lindsay will discuss the use of genomics in every day clinical care, from gathering family and medical history, to antenatal and postnatal screening.
Following this, Katie Handley, Clinical Lead for Maternal and Child Health at Genomics England, will present the Generation Study, a groundbreaking research study which will sequence the genomes of 100, 000 newborn babies. In partnership with the NHS, Genomics England are aiming to understand whether we can improve our ability to diagnose and treat genetic conditions. Every year, hundreds of babies are born in the UK with rare genetic conditions, but early intervention can enhance the health and quality of life of many of these babies. By screening babies at birth, the Generation Study aims to identify rare conditions in babies earlier, enable wider research into genes and health, and explore the risks and benefits of storing an individual’s genome over their lifetime.
Resources
Prevent and protect: Identifying and mitigating the risks of Group B Strep
- Jane Plumb MBE FRCOG FRSA, Chief Executive and Co-funder, Group B Strep Support
Resources
Abstracts
- The Lost Mothers project: Exploring the Impact of Maternal-Newborn Separation in Prison. Dr Laura Abbott, University of Hertfordshire
- What are the reported factors that are associated with black women, living with anxiety or depression during the perinatal period? Melissa Griffin, University Hospitals Birmingham
- 'I couldn't change the world, but the world changed me' Experiences, perspectives and patient care impact of midwives in Scotland following traumatic perinatal and Significant Adverse Events. Zoe Dalgety, NHS Lothian and Queen Margaret University
Championing equity in care: Advancing inclusive midwifery practices
- Caroline Conroy, MERAS Co-Leader (Midwifery), MERAS
- Hannah King, Consultant-Led Labour Ward Coordinator, Doctorate student, Midwives Against Racism
- Jamie Morris, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead Midwife, Welsh Government
- Olamide Solanke, Senior Lecturer, University of Derby
- Derin Webb, Midwife, Midwives Against Racism
Resources
- Breakout 2
Sustainability in maternity services: Reducing impact, enhancing quality
- Rebecca Johnson, North Pembrokeshire community midwife, Hywel Dda University Health Board
- Dr Maddie de Vicq, clinical fellow for sustainability and climate change, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
- Lauren Flett, Senior Charge Midwife, NHS Orkney
Resources
Abstracts
- Characteristics of strong midwifery leaders and enablers of strong midwifery leadership: A global appreciative inquiry, Dr Sally Pezaro and Professor Lisa Bayliss-Pratt, Coventry University
- Informed consent for induction of labour; A quality improvement project. Felicity Gruneberg, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn
- The experiences of women, birth partners and midwives of a dedicated, midwife-led, telephone support line for labour: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Marie Naish, University of Southampton.
Abstracts
- Evaluation of a co-designed digital animation in service improvement (DAISI) sharing messages around modifiable behaviours to reduce the risk of stillbirth. Bethan McEvoy & Dr Kylie Watson, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
- Supporting personalised care for all women. Dr Jacqui Williams & Dr Claire Feeley, Nursing and Midwifery Council
- Improving detection and escalation of maternal early deterioration: the DREaMED multi-centre cohort study. Alessandra Morelli, on behalf of the DREaMED study team. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Value for money: Making job evaluation work for you
- Louise, Chinnery, UNISON National Officer and Staff-side chair of the NHS Job Evaluation Group, UNISON
- Hayley Moreton, Midwife/Staffside Deputy Chair, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- Emma Sarson, Staffside Chair/RCM Representative, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- Wendy Smith, midwife/staffside, NHS Ayrshire and Arran Health Board
Resources
- Exhibition hall
How to use your influence for great maternity workplaces and services
- Stuart Bonar, Public Affairs Advisor, RCM
- Bobby-Joe Campbell, Midwife and RCM activist
Join midwife and RCM activist Bobby-Joe and Stuart public affairs advisor to hear how powerful your voice can be. An important part of the RCM’s role is amplifying your voice to politicians, policy and other decision makers, we use the information you tell us in surveys, from local branch meetings and through leaders and activist networks to advocate for safe, quality maternity services and improved working conditions. Even more impactful than this is for these decision makers to hear from RCM members working in maternity services and midwifery education, that lived experience coupled with the fact that the best ideas often come from the workforce means you can make a massive difference. In this session you can learn from a Bobby-Joe a midwife who has experience of using her voice to make positive change and Stuart who can help you get started and will support you along the way.
Returning to work after maternity leave
- Julie Richards, Director Wales, RCM
- Rachel Evans,All Wales Breastfeeding Lead
- Sharon Davies, Assistant National Officer Wales, RCM
The workshop will offer practical insights in how to support employees returning from maternity leave with their health and wellbeing as a targeted action of the RCM C4Y charter campaign. It will explore the opportunities with pregnancy planning, flexible working policies and share the recently developed all Wales Breastfeeding Charter for Workplaces in Wales. The workshop is intended to support activists, managers, workplaces and members to collectively work towards best practice for supporting their breastfeeding employees and how to meet the legal protection under health and safety and sex discrimination laws.
The all Wales Breastfeeding Strategic Steering Group and RCM Wales have recommended priorisation of this work during 2025. To find out more on how we can all collectively;
- Promote the wellbeing of employees by reducing the stress and anxiety related to balancing work and breastfeeding responsibilities. This support contributes to their overall physical and mental wellbeing, resulting in increased job satisfaction and productivity
- Attract and retain talented employees by demonstrating their commitment to work life balance and support for working parents. This can positively impact employee loyalty and engagement, leading to higher retention rates and a more diverse and inclusive workforce
- Enhance public image and reputation of organisations by demonstrating a commitment to family friendly policies, social responsibility and employee wellbeing to the wider community, including service users and other potential employees.
- Support the health and wellbeing of babies throughout the UK by supporting mothers to continue to breastfeed and ensure babies continue to benefit from breastmilk reducing the likelihood of illness and the need for medical interventions.
- Making cost savings to themselves and their employees as employers may benefit from reduced absenteeism and due to decreased infant illness. Additionally supporting breastfeeding aligns with initiatives to that promote sustainability and environmental responsibility contributing to long term cost savings and positive impact on the planet.
How to have a conversation around vaccines
- Dr Cath Grimley, Research Fellow, University of Warwick
- Jo Parsons, Assistant Professor in Health Science Research, University of Birmingham
If you have conversations in practice with pregnant women about vaccinations this workshop must not be missed. Recommending vaccines and encouraging uptake is a crucial part of the midwife’s public health role but often midwives feel underprepared for this. This workshop is designed to help you discover how to hold more positive and effective conversations. You will come away with a better understanding of what influences women’s decisions, and some top tips on how to make your recommendations impactful.
What midwives need to know about preterm birth
- Jenny Carter, Senior Research Fellow and Senior Research Midwife, King’s College London
Jenny is a founder member of the UK Preterm Clinical Network, midwife specialist at St Thomas’ Hospital preterm surveillance clinic and co-author of Preterm Birth: A Handbook for Midwives (2024). Her PhD thesis focussed on risk assessment in threatened preterm labour and development of the QUiPP app. Preterm birth is a significant cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity, and has a potentially devastating lifelong impact on the whole family. At the conference Jenny Carter will deliver a workshop focussing on how to identify women at higher risk for preterm birth to ensure they receive timely referral to a preterm surveillance clinic and potentially lifesaving treatments. If you’ve ever wondered which cervical treatments really put women at risk or felt uncertain about what to do when a woman doesn’t know about what treatment she had, then this session is for you. The workshop provides the background knowledge and useful tips for how to effectively question women when risk assessing for preterm birth, enabling you to return to practice with increased confidence in referring the right women for preterm surveillance.
Writing for publications
- Sara Webb FRCM, Head of MIDIRS
Come and find out how to share your knowledge and work to improve care. Whether it is work undertaken through study, service improvements or reflections on practice, all is worth publishing and MIDIRS is here to help. Publish your work, improve care, grow your CV and your career.
Working with language barriers
- Benash Nazmeen, Assistant Professor in Midwifery, University of Bradford
Benash is a midwife, mentor and co-founder of The Association of South Asian Midwives. She currently works in midwifery education and is passionate about addressing health inequalities. This has included co-designing and running Cultural Competency and Safety workhops for maternity healthcare professionals and contributing to the 2024 MBRRACE-UK perinatal confidential enquiry into the care of recent migrant women with language barriers who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death. At this year’s conference Benash will draw on her expertise to deliver a vitally important workshop about the use of interpreters in maternity services. One of the biggest challenges maternity staff face is what to do when someone declines an interpreter. This half hour session will delve into what this response really means, providing the audience with invaluable insight and useful discussion points to help address this issue in practice so that midwives, support workers and students can deliver safe, personalised care to non- or limited English speaking families.
- RCM stand
RCM strategy
- RCM Board
Being an RCM workplace representative
- Toni Wood, RCM Steward
- Chrissy Walsh, RCM Steward and Health & Safety Rep
Join RCM workplace representatives to hear the various different roles, you can meet a steward, health and safety rep and learning rep to learn about a day in the life of a rep.
Being an RCM Workplace Representative can help your personal and professional development, it’s a challenging role that is integral to fair, equitable, healthy and safe workplaces. As a rep the RCM supports you with advice, training and links you up with networks of other local reps.
All RCM reps are advocates for the RCM, recruit members in the workplace and attend meetings to hear from members and feedback.
Being a RCM workplace representative
Join RCM workplace representatives to hear the various different roles, you can meet a steward, health and safety rep and learning rep to learn about a day in the life of a rep.
Being an RCM Workplace Representative can help your personal and professional development, it’s a challenging role that is integral to fair, equitable, healthy and safe workplaces. As a rep the RCM supports you with advice, training and links you up with networks of other local reps.
All RCM reps are advocates for the RCM, recruit members in the workplace and attend meetings to hear from members and feedback.
- Stewards represent members individually and collectively and can attend local partnership or negotiating forums.
- Health and Safety reps promote and develop healthy and safe workplace, this includes access to breaks and hydration as well as the buildings that members work in, carry out inspections of workplaces and can attend the organisation’s health and safety committee.
- Learning reps assist and advise on training and development needs, promote opportunities to access learning, signposting to learning opportunities, organising learning and development events, supporting members to prepare for appraisals and NMC revalidation and welcome early career midwives to the workplace and RCM branch.
- Exhibition hall balcony
RCM Fellows reception
Join RCM staff for a networking reception for members based in the Midland & the East of England and London. You will have an opportunity to meet staff from these regional teams.
Educators and researchers reception
Join RCM staff, Fellows for a networking reception for educators and researchers in maternity.
South and North of England & community reception
Join RCM staff for a networking reception for members based in the north and south of England. You will have an opportunity to meet staff from these regional teams.
Midlands & East of England and London reception
Join RCM staff for a networking reception for members based in the Midlands & East of England and London . You will have an opportunity to meet staff from these regional teams.
