What future for midwifery?

Safe, effective and high quality maternity care is crucial to the wellbeing of mother and baby and for society as a whole. The midwife is now recognized and recommended as the lead professional and co-ordinator of care for low risk women and plays a central role in ensuring a safe outcome for mother and newborn. A number of key policy documents, service audits and reviews highlight the essential role of the midwife and the skills and expertise required to provide expert care and make educated decisions about care management. Yet there has been considerable attention and debate in the media, from the public and from the profession itself because of the current shortage of midwives in England. This paper debates some of the implications of the lack of midwives and the need to ensure a commitment to the recruitment and education of midwives who are equipped to deal with the challenges of providing the highest quality woman-centred care which is safe, effective and meets the changing needs of society and the profession. Some of the questions centre around the importance of the availability of midwives to provide midwifery care and support the development of student midwives, as well as the need to ensure continued access to opportunities to maintain and update midwives' knowledge and skills.