The Maternity & Midwifery Hour

One of the key outcomes that we as midwives within the maternity care team need to address is that of pre-term labour and birth – when a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, working towards improving perinatal outcomes. We are joined this week by Dede Thorpe, Preterm Specialist Midwife at East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, who will be talking about the experience of women and f...

Series 19 - Episode 9: Where next for Midwifery? Ockenden & Amos round up Maternity & Midwifery are the subject two significant reports which have huge implications for the choices for women and the shape of the profession. Students can’t get jobs, experienced midwives are retiring and leaving, education is trapped in university financial crisis and now the basic roles and education of the...

Live from the Bradford Maternity & Midwifery Festival 2026 Keynote address: The maternity care crisis and lessons learned  Professor Andrew Weeks, Professor of International Maternal Healthcare, University of Liverpool   From strategy to practice: what the women’s health strategy means for midwives  Dr Rosie Dawson, Consultant Midwife, MNVP Professional Lead, South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust; Ho...

Series 19 - Episode 8: " No pregnant woman sent home" is this a demand to build trust with women that they will be listened to or does it go too far? The "No Pregnant Woman Sent Home" campaign has sparked significant debate across maternity services, professional communities, and among women and families themselves. At its heart is a simple but challenging question: when a preg...

Series 19 - Episode 7: Midwifery research: priorities, pathways and midwifery involvement At the heart of this week’s hour is the importance of research that informs midwifery practice and the care of women, babies and families, together with the role of midwives in conducting and advancing that research. We are joined by Judith Field, who will be discussing the RCM’s groundbreaking work in identi...

Series 19 - Episode 6: Postpartum Psychosis: identification, support and care In this hour we explore Postpartum Psychosis also known as Puerperal Psychosis, an important condition which can impact on women and their families after the birth of a baby. Sally Wilson and Jenny Stevenson will share what is known about Postpartum psychosis, and its recognition, and how families can be supported throug...

Recently there has been a lot of media focus on trauma and difficulties experienced by women after birth, and in a busy service women may also feel anxious and reluctant to ask questions about their labour and birth experiences. Marie Watkyns, former Head of Midwifery and founder of Little Light Support, introduces the L.I.G.H.T. approach to trauma-informed birth debriefing. This session will offe...

Series 19 - Episode 4:  Improving care for women and infants Presentations: Parental stress in the Neonatal Unit - findings from the Neo-SILT Study Colm Darby , Vice Chair, Neonatal Nurses Association; Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Craigavon Area Hospital; Doctoral Fellow; Queen’s University Belfast Reset & renew - building sustainable healthy habits in high-stress roles Amanda Whitehe...

Black and mixed Black heritage women in the UK experience pregnancy and infant loss at higher rates than their white counterparts. In response to these disparities, midwife Alicia Burnett launched Black Baby Loss Awareness Week in 2023 - an awareness event which aims to improve Black communities' awareness of support services for women, birthing people and families affected by pregnancy and ba...

Series 19 - Episode 2:  Fear of Childbirth or Fear of Systems? The rising caesarean section rate and the pressures on the maternity services might contribute to women feeling afraid of childbirth. Fear of childbirth or birth trauma may be shaped by the way care is organised and delivered, by midwives and the multidisciplinary team, and experienced by women, their babies and families. In this sessi...

Maternity care and thus midwifery has become more complex for women and also for midwives and maternity care teams. How can we get it right, and improve care for women, their babies and families, reduce unnecessary interventions and, most importantly, improve maternal and perinatal outcomes? In this week’s hour, we welcome Anna Melamed, Senior Midwifery Lecturer at University of the West of Englan...

Language truly matters when it comes to pregnancy loss. The language used in healthcare settings can have a huge impact on people who experience loss during pregnancy, and on their subsequent mental recovery and wellbeing. In this session, we will explore what can be learned from the experiences of nearly one thousand participants who took part in research projects to investigate the way language...

Series 18 - Episode 10: You were held… This session we are looking at how women, who may at risk of separation from their babies at or soon after birth, especially through complex child protection issues, can be uniquely supported through a compassionate, private photography session. The ‘You were held’ project supports mothers in managing the grief of being separated from their babies due to lega...

The rising caesarean section rate across the UK and globally is reshaping maternity care, with significant implications for midwifery practice, education and workforce development. This session will explore how increasing surgical birth rates impact student learning opportunities, skill acquisition, confidence in physiological birth, and the future role of the midwife. We will consider the balance...

Midwifery Hour

The Midwifery Forum’s weekly live stream, brought to you by MATFLIX – every Wednesday, 7-8pm, UK Series 18 - Episode 7: Safer delivery: working hours and conditions - impact on midwives’ wellbeing Media attention on maternity care has rightly focussed on women, babies and families’ experiences of the maternity services and has highlighted issues around poor communication, difficulties with team wo...

The importance of consent, and specifically informed consent, is crucial in ensuring that women, babies and their families receive maternity care, personalised and tailored to their particular needs. This week we are joined by Dr Jacqui Williams, Senior Midwifery Advisor (Education) at the NMC and Geraldine Lucas Head of Midwifery at the University of Worcester, who join us to present some of the...

2 presentations from the London Maternity & Midwifery Festival 2026: Student midwives' exposure to physiological birth: An analysis of 3055 births Dr Claire Feeley, Senior Lecturer and Midwifery/Maternal Health Researcher, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, Kings College London Teaching Waterbirth for the 21st century.  Love, skills and knowledge Dian...

Series 18 - Episode 4: An update on the work of NHS Resolution’s Early Notification scheme The Early Notification (EN) Scheme is a key initiative towards achieving the delivery of safer maternity care, providing a more rapid, caring response to families in cases of severe harm and supporting a learning culture. This session will explore the NHS Resolution’s Early Notification (EN) scheme and share...

Series 18 - Episode 2: Anti-racist Midwifery: Practice Improving care Keelie Grindley, EDI Lead, UHNM The impact of systematic racism, unconscious bias and the disparities in maternal and perinatal outcomes for Black and Brown women and birthing people in comparison to their white counterparts must encourage us all to look critically at ourselves, and the care that we provide to women, birthing pe...

Series 18 - Episode 2: What matters: Maternity services for neurodivergent women during pregnancy Being neurodiverse can present significant challenges to women entering maternity services and meeting the needs of women who have been identified as neurodiverse, or are yet to be, is important in ensuring appropriate and compassionate care during their pregnancy and childbirth journey. In this sessi...

What can we learn from the stories of newly qualified midwives In this session, we discuss research undertaken by Suzanne which explored the experience of newly qualified midwives and its implications for supporting and developing new midwives. The identity of being a midwife is through relationships and this needs some rebalancing as practitioners start to negotiate the ‘doing’ (where the focus i...

Issues around labour and birth and the development of maternal infant attachment and bonding has been an area of interest to parents and also to midwives in supporting parents in their journey to parenthood. In this session, we are joined by author and midwife, Laura Godfrey-Isaacs, who will be discussing her graphic guide for parents, which midwives may also find helpful in expanding parents’ fee...

The UN intends for women and girls to not only survive, but thrive, and, in the process, transform their life chances and those of their communities. However, the focus in maternity care in the uk is more specific, on safety and survival without trauma. While this is important, it does not capture the ‘personalisation’ - thriving and transforming- part of the picture. One way of building potential...

Hosted by: Sue Macdonald, Midwifery Expert; Host and Curator, Maternity and Midwifery Festivals/Midwifery Hour, Editor, Mayes Midwifery Supported by MATFLIX: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://matflix.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Register to watch the next episode LIVE or attend a Maternity & Midwifery Festival: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mmf.eventbrite.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Watch the live stream: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://facebook.com/midwiferyforum/live