About this episode

The episode discusses the current challenges and future directions for midwifery in light of significant reports and workforce issues.

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 profession are being questioned, with calls to end direct entry to graduate courses. In less than a decade the objective of Better Births and Continuity of Care seem further away than ever, the statistics for maternal deaths are getting worse, not better, and the objective of halving stillbirths remains far away. We now have revelations of huge failing in maternity services, disrespect and insensitive treatment of women in labour, unprofessional behaviour among colleagues and accusations of bullying of women and junior staff. Is this a complete picture of what is happening and will the proposed solutions make the difference expected? Hosted by: Neil Stewart Contributions from: Neil Stewart, Editorial Director, MATFLIX/ Maternity & Midwifery Forum Nicky Clark, Freelance Midwifery…

People in this episode

Host: Neil Stewart

Guest: Nicky Clark

Topics covered

• Midwifery
• Maternity services
• Education crisis
• Maternal health
• Workforce challenges
• Healthcare reports

Keywords

• midwifery
• maternity
• education
• healthcare
• maternal deaths
• stillbirths
• workforce
• Ockenden report
• Amos report

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MATFLIX, Maternity & Midwifery Forum, University of Hull

More episodes of The Maternity & Midwifery Hour

• 19.12 Why moving matters in pregnancy and birth · July 17, 2026 · 1h 7m
• 19.11 Improving the service..improving outcomes .. · July 10, 2026 · 59 min
• 19.9 Putting Women First - Can Ockendon Make It A Reality? - Prof Andrew Weeks & Dr Rosie Dawson · June 29, 2026 · 54 min
• 19.8 " 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? · June 19, 2026 · 36 min

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