NMC launches Future Midwife Standards in Glasgow

on 25 February 2020

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has launched its new Future Midwife Standards in Glasgow, outlining what the next generation of midwives will need to know and learn.

The standards were launched as part of an International Year of the Nurse and Midwife celebratory event at the Science Museum in Glasgow.

The standards set out an evidence-based benchmark for midwifery, providing future midwives with a first-class education to reflect the transforming landscape in which they work.

They place an increased focus on continuity of care and carer, highlighting the importance of midwives being constantly present throughout the woman’s pregnancy journey and ensuring their birth plans are met.

Also highlighted in the Future Midwife Standards is the need for midwives to have the right knowledge, skills and behaviours to identify individual mental health needs of women as early as possible.

Speaking at the launch, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar, Andrea Sutcliffe, said: “We shouldn’t underestimate how important these standards will be. With more than 3,000 midwives and fifty thousand births in Scotland each year, these new standards will touch the lives of more than half a million babies over the next ten years.

“That’s why I’m so pleased to celebrate today and acknowledge the support and collaboration we’ve had with midwifery professionals, educators and women and their families across Scotland, many of whom are here today. Their input was invaluable in shaping the standards into the incredible form they are today.”

The standards also focus strongly on working in collaboration with multidisciplinary and multi-agency teams to provide evidence-based, compassionate and appropriate woman-centred care.

The NMC is encouraging midwives to join in the conversation about the standards on Twitter using the hashtag #FutureMidwife.

More information about standards for midwives can be found here.