Brochure | Midwifery and Neonatal Care | Child Birth

RCM welcomes renewed focus on maternity safety as Secretary of State announces rapid review

2025-06-23 - 2025-06

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has welcomed the announcement of a rapid review of maternity safety. The review, announced by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, is due to report by Christmas. Alongside this, the Health Secretary will chair a National Maternity & Neonatal Taskforce, which will bring together experts, staff and campaigners to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal services in England.

RCM Chief Executive Gill Walton said:

“Every woman and family should leave maternity and neonatal services whole, happy and healthy. Yet we know that, for far too many, that isn’t their experience. Systemic failings and a lack of attention to the warning signs have let those families down, and let down the hardworking staff who are trying so hard to provide the care they deserve. Everyone involved in maternity services – the midwifery community, obstetricians, anaesthetists, sonographers and, of course, the women and families in their care – knows that maternity services are at, or even beyond, breaking point. This renewed focus and commitment by the Health Secretary to deliver change is welcome, and we will do everything we can to support him in doing so.”

The College was encouraged to hear the Health Secretary emphasise the need for greater accountability around maternity and neonatal care at executive level within Trusts. The RCM has long called for Directors of Midwifery to sit on Trust boards, so that they can raise concerns directly with those with the power to deliver the systemic change needed.

Gill added:

“Up and down the country, there are midwives and maternity support workers who genuinely dread the start of another shift, because they know they won’t be able to provide the quality of care that they have trained so hard to deliver. They know their shift will be under-staffed, that care will be rushed as a result, and they will go home questioning whether they could have done more. We support them to raise their concerns within their Trust, but all too often they remain unheard. The NHS is setting up our midwifery community to fail, and that has to change. We are taking Wes Streeting at his word that he wants to make maternity services better for everyone, including the hardworking staff currently doing their best against the odds.”

The Secretary of State’s announcement comes just weeks before the RCM, alongside eight other organisations, is due to hold a summit on maternity and neonatal safety. For the first time, Trust Chief Executives and Chairs will be the target audience, in a bid to unlock the commitment and prioritisation maternity and neonatal safety desperately needs.

Gill said:

“Directors of Midwifery and Obstetric Clinical Leads know what needs to be done to make rapid and sustained safety improvements, but all too often their voices simply aren’t being heard by those with the power to make those improvements a priority for the Trust. This summit seeks to address that, to put maternity and neonatal safety front and centre and to bring about the progress all of us, from the Secretary of State to the newly-qualified midwife, and especially the women and families accessing those services, desperately want to see.”

WHO calls for global expansion of midwifery models of care

2025-06-18 - 2025-06

Trusted midwives key to saving lives, improving health, and ensuring respectful care for women and newborns, says new guidance
The World Health Organization (WHO) today released new guidance to help countries adopt and expand midwifery models of care - where midwives serve as the main care provider for women and babies throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period.

The guidance promotes strong communication and partnership between women and midwives, and offers proven health benefits for both women and their babies. Women who received care from trusted midwives are statistically more likely to experience healthy vaginal births and report higher satisfaction with the services they receive.

“Expanding and investing in midwifery models of care is one of the most effective strategies to improve maternal and newborn health globally,” said Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at WHO. “These approaches improve outcomes, maximize resources, and can be adapted to all countries. Crucially, they also enhance women’s and families’ experiences of care– building trusted partnerships for health at this critical life stage.”

A proven, cost-effective solution
Despite progress, maternal and newborn deaths remain unacceptably high—particularly in low-income and fragile settings. Recent modelling suggests that universal access to skilled midwives could prevent over 60% of these deaths, amounting to 4.3 million lives saved annually by 2035.

Midwifery care models emphasize informed choice as well as communication and non-invasive techniques—such as mobility during labour, breathing guidance, varied birthing positions and emotional support— that seek to empower women, and reduce the likelihood of invasive procedures.

Midwifery models of care are also an important response to the growing concern of over-medicalization in childbirth. While medical interventions such as caesarean sections, inductions, and use of forceps are essential and life-saving when clinically indicated, their routine or excessive use creates short and long-term health risks. In some countries, caesarean rates now exceed 50%, suggesting high rates of medically unnecessary procedures.

“Skilled midwives help women trust in their bodies, their abilities, and their care,” said Ulrika Rehnstrom Loi, Midwifery expert at WHO and technical lead for the guidance. “This is why investing in midwifery models of care is so important – it not only improves health but builds a cadre of experts equipped to provide individualized, respectful care, ensuring women are consistently part of decision making and have access to the information they need as well as vital emotional support.”

Practical tools for implementation
The new guidance provides practical tools and real-life examples to help countries structure a transition toward midwifery models of care. As part of this process, it calls for strong political commitment, strategic planning and long-term financing for implementation -- with dedicated budget lines. It also stresses the importance of high-quality midwifery regulation and education in line with international standards, supporting autonomous, evidence-based practice.

Successful implementation requires strong collaboration, the guidance notes. Midwives should be empowered to work independently while also integrated into broader healthcare teams alongside doctors and nurses. In the event of complications, midwives should be able to work in partnership with these other professionals to ensure quality multidisciplinary care for every woman and baby.

A global imperative
Globally, millions of women still give birth without a skilled health worker by their side, and one-third do not receive even four of WHO’s recommended eight pregnancy checks. Progress in reducing maternal and newborn mortality has largely stagnated since 2016.

“Midwifery models of care are not just smart solutions - they are a necessity,” said Anna Ugglas, Chief Executive of the International Confederation of Midwives, which supported the development of the guidance. “In a world where childbirth is increasingly medicalized, they offer a person-centred, evidence-based approach that respects the physiological process of birth, restores dignity and autonomy to maternity care, and helps ensure safety for women and newborns everywhere.”

The guidance outlines several adaptable models of midwifery care, including:

Continuity of care, where women are supported by a known midwife, or small team of midwives, throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period.
Midwife-led birth centres, dedicated facilities where midwives provide intrapartum care for women at low risk of complications. They sometimes offer other services such as antenatal and postnatal care or family planning.
Community-based approaches where midwives deliver services directly in communities—for example, via mobile units or local health centres.
Private practice, where private midwives operate independently or through organizations. To be effective, these services must be regulated and integrated into national health systems.

Health secretary to address national summit on maternity and neonatal safety

2025-06-02 - 2025-06

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting will address NHS leaders at a first-of-its-kind summit on maternity and neonatal safety in July. The summit is aimed at Chief Executives and Chairs of NHS Trusts, Boards and Integrated Care Boards to support them in addressing the safety crisis facing maternity and neonatal care. Importantly, delegates will also hear from experts in the field who will present solutions that are already improving outcomes for women and families.

The summit will be chaired by Sunday Times Health Editor Shaun Lintern and boasts not one but two Secretaries of State, with Sir Jeremy Hunt, former Health Secretary and now chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Patient Safety, giving the closing keynote. Teams from around the country will also be sharing how they have resolved some of the underlying challenges in maternity and neonatal care, and how those solutions can be adapted and adopted in other Trusts and Boards.

Gill Walton, co-chair of Progress in Partnership and Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said:

“Every woman, family and newborn should receive safe, kind and consistent care, but sadly that isn’t always the case. I know from talking to staff how much not being able to provide the quality of care they want to provide impacts them too. No-one could disagree that maternity and neonatal services are at crisis point. When the challenge is so great, it can be hard to see a way out, which is why the Progress in Partnership collaboration is hosting this summit. We want to support the senior decision-makers in NHS Trusts, Boards and ICBs to make the right choices for the women and families that rely on them for care, and the staff that are providing that care.

“There is undoubtedly a moral imperative to solving the safety crisis in maternity and neonatal care – and there is also a financial one, with £1bn paid in compensation for unavoidable harm. Imagine the good we could do if every woman and family left maternity and neonatal services whole and happy – and imagine how much more we could do if that money could be properly invested in maternity and neonatal care.”

In addition to Wes Streeting and Sir Jeremy Hunt, delegates will also hear from Megan Bidder of NHS Resolution about the financial costs of safety failings in maternity and neonatal care, and from Dr Bill Kirkup, author of two independent investigations into maternity services, who will set out how crises occur, particularly around culture and multidisciplinary working.

Progress in Partnership represents in excess of 200,000 frontline staff across maternity and neonatal services, coming together with the shared goal of improving the quality of care for women and families. The partners are hopeful that the summit will support NHS leaders in Trusts, Boards and Integrated Care Boards in making the changes needed to deliver better outcomes for women and families.

Ranee Thakar, co-chair of Progress in Partnership and President of the RCOG, said:

“There is no doubt that faster progress is needed to address the crisis in maternity and neonatal care, so that every baby and woman can receive the compassionate, personalised and high quality care they deserve. The commitment of maternity and neonatal organisations to driving much-needed change is not in doubt, and our summit aims to share scalable, sustainable solutions with NHS leaders to support this goal.

“The programme will cover latest insights, tools and practical examples to boost improvement efforts. This includes hearing about the Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth programme rolling out nationally from September to reduce risks associated with two major contributors to avoidable brain injury in labour.”

Health secretary to address national summit on maternity and neonatal safety

2025-06-02 - 2025-06

Urinary Tract Infections Before Surgery Elevate Readmission Odds in Hysterectomy Patients: Study Shows

2025-05-30 - 2025-05

USA: A recent large-scale retrospective study published in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology has shed light on the impact of preoperative urinary tract infections (UTIs) on surgical outcomes in women undergoing benign hysterectomy.
"Although UTIs did not significantly increase the overall rate of postoperative complications, the findings suggest a notably higher risk of readmission within 30 days following the procedure," the researchers reported.
Preoperative urinary tract infections have been linked to adverse surgical outcomes in specific patient groups. In this context, Laura Douglass, Section of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA, and colleagues aimed to evaluate the impact of a preoperative UTI on the likelihood of 30-day postoperative complications among women undergoing benign hysterectomy.
For this purpose, the researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the 2014 to 2021 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. They identified surgeries based on CPT codes and categorized surgical indications using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. A preoperative urinary tract infection was defined as a symptomatic UTI in patients who had not yet started or were undergoing antibiotic treatment at the time of surgery.
The primary outcome measured was the occurrence of any postoperative complication within 30 days. To compare groups, statistical analyses such as the Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used for categorical variables, while the Mann-Whitney U test was applied for continuous variables.
Key Findings:
Patients with preoperative UTI were generally older and had higher rates of ASA physical status class 3 or 4.
The incidence of vaginal hysterectomy and surgical indications such as pain or prolapse was greater among those with UTI.
Operative time and reoperation rates were significantly higher in the UTI group.
Overall, 5.6% of all patients undergoing benign hysterectomy experienced a postoperative complication within 30 days.
Patients with a preoperative UTI had a higher 30-day complication rate (8.2%) compared to those without UTI (5.6%).
After adjusting for confounding factors, preoperative UTI was no longer independently associated with overall 30-day complications.
However, patients with UTI had nearly four times the odds of readmission within 30 days (adjusted OR 3.98).
The researchers concluded that although a preoperative urinary tract infection did not significantly impact the overall risk of postoperative complications, it was strongly linked to a nearly fourfold increase in 30-day readmission rates following benign hysterectomy. This highlights the importance of identifying and addressing UTIs before surgery as a potentially modifiable factor to improve surgical outcomes.

Angola: 40% of under fives suffer chronic malnutrition - survey

2025-05-19 - 2025-05

The rate of chronic malnutrition in children under 5 in Angola is 40%, up two percentage points in eight years, according to figures released on Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
According to the Multiple Indicator and Health Survey 2023-2024, budgeted at US$9.5 million (€8.4 million), in Angola 40% of children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition (low height for age), and the percentage is higher in rural areas (51%).
In urban areas, the percentage of children with chronic malnutrition is 31%, according to data from the second edition of the Multiple Indicator and Health Survey (IIMS) presented today in Luanda by the Angolan INE.
Chronic malnutrition is highest in the provinces of Bie (56%), Kwanza Sul (53%), Uije (48%), Huambo (47%), Huila (47%), Kwanza Norte (47%) and Malanje (45%). Luanda, the Angolan capital, has the lowest rate in the country at 24%, while at national level the provinces have an average prevalence rate of 29%.
According to the study, chronic malnutrition in Angola will increase from 38% in 2015-2016 (the period in which the first IIMS was carried out) to 40% in 2023-2024. In this period, underweight children increased from 19% to 21% and the percentage of children with acute malnutrition remained at 5%.
Only 3% of children under 5 in Angola are overweight, the survey reads.
With regard to the nutritional status of women in Angola, the survey points out that 20% of women between the ages of 20 and 29 are thin, while 27% are overweight or obese.
"Among adolescent women aged 15-19, 21% are thin, with 5% of them being moderately or severely thin. Eight percent of adolescent women are overweight," says the study.
The Multiple Indicator and Health Survey 2023-2024 also highlights that the infant mortality and under-five mortality rates are now 32 and 52 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively, for the five-year period prior to the survey.
The neonatal mortality rate went from 24 to 16 deaths per 1,000 live births: "With these levels of mortality, one in every 19 children in Angola does not survive until their fifth birthday," the study notes.
The survey also brings together data on family planning, water, sanitation and hygiene, maternal and neonatal health care, fertility and its determinants and others.
The director general of the Angolan National Statistics Institute (INE), Joel Futi, said on the occasion that the Multiple Indicator and Health Survey 2023-2024 lasted six months, involved 189 officials throughout Angolan territory and cost the state coffers close to US$9.5 million.
"The biggest challenges, post survey, firstly have to do with our political decision-makers, the people who draw up this country's governance policies, because we know that statistical information must serve as a basis for adopting policies," he said, noting that "policies without statistics have no value".
The secretary of state for Health for Angola's Hospital Area, Leonardo Inocencio, pointed to the importance of the survey, considering that it provides essential information that will serve as a basis for evaluating the National Development Plan (PDN) 2023

2nd Webinar on Midwifery and Neonatal Care

Brochure Form

info@globalmeetx.net

amiranora599@gmail.com

+44-7723-860457

RCM welcomes renewed focus on maternity safety as Secretary of State announces rapid review

WHO calls for global expansion of midwifery models of care

Health secretary to address national summit on maternity and neonatal safety

Health secretary to address national summit on maternity and neonatal safety

Urinary Tract Infections Before Surgery Elevate Readmission Odds in Hysterectomy Patients: Study Shows

Angola: 40% of under fives suffer chronic malnutrition - survey