RCM Chief Executive tells national conference the impact midwives have on the women in their care is huge

Highlighting staffing shortages and the widely reported effect this has on the delivery of safe maternity care, at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) national conference, CEO Gill Walton said: “It is an uncomfortable truth that too many women and families are not receiving the care they deserve because there aren’t enough midwives, maternity support workers and maternity staff. Far too often, there are too few people on shift. You’re stretched too thin and you don’t feel able to provide the level of care you were trained to give. It’s something we sadly know only too well in maternity services.

“This Government has said that, with its forthcoming 10-year plan for the NHS, it wants to shift the focus from treatment to prevention. Well, where better to start that shift than in maternity services? It is possible to stop the avoidable harm experienced by women and families. But only if this Government – and its counterparts in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man – invest in maternity care.”

Addressing the Government’s commitment to improving maternity services, Gill pointed out that Health Secretary Wes Streeting had postponed a meeting with the RCM for the second consecutive time. “Sadly, we were told last week that the meeting was postponed. For the second time. These things happen and no-one doubts that Mr Streeting is a very busy man. He’s also a man who said that the crisis in maternity services keeps him awake at night. So, let’s make it third time lucky, Wes, and help you get a decent night’s sleep. Had we met yesterday, I would have told him that every single member of the midwifery community wants to see positive change in maternity services. We want to be able to spend time with women, to answer their questions and to support them to make informed choices about their care. We want to have the time to address the very real issues around perinatal mental health. We want to see every family leave our care whole and happy. We can’t keep kicking the can down the road. Women and families deserve it. Midwives and maternity support workers deserve it. The wider maternity team deserves it. Society deserves it.

“We all know that one of the best investments in public health is a midwife. Why? Because good midwifery care sets the foundations. It is the front door of the NHS for hundreds of thousands of women, many of whom won’t have had much experience of the NHS before. As maternity support workers and midwives, you can signpost them to support to stop smoking, or manage their weight, or give advice about vaccination, or even accessing the right benefits.

“If we can get this care right, we have a huge opportunity to change the health trajectory of communities across the UK and in the long run save the NHS millions of pounds,” Gill concluded.