Review and mapping of the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards of proficiency for midwives to recommendations from key UK maternity and neonatal reviews

Description

This report summarises an independent review and mapping of the Standards of proficiency for midwives (NMC 20191/2024) and the relevant practice elements of Part 3 Standards for pre-registration midwifery programmes (NMC 2019/2023) against the recommendations arising from the most recent UK maternity and neonatal reviews. The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) commissioned the UK Network of Professors in Midwifery and Maternal and Newborn2 Health to undertake the review and mapping as part of their Midwifery Action Plan (NMC 2025) and in response to ongoing national reviews of maternity and neonatal services. The project was completed at pace (Nov 2025-Jan 2026) by a project team with expertise in midwifery and maternity education, research, practice and policy drawn from across the four countries of the UK. Following an initial pilot mapping activity, the mapping process was agreed and five pairs of mappers independently mapped recommendations relevant for midwives’ practice from the following seven recent reviews: • Emerging findings and recommendations from the independent review of maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (Ockenden 2020) • Ockenden report - final: Findings, conclusions and essential actions from the independent review of maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (Ockenden 2022) • ‘Reading the signals’: maternity and neonatal service in East Kent – the report of the independent investigation (Kirkup 2022) • Enabling safe quality midwifery services and care in Northern Ireland (Renfrew 2024) • National review of maternity services in England 2022- 2024 (Care Quality Commission [CQC] 2024) • The independent review of maternity and neonatal services at Swansea Bay University Health Board (Chaffer 2025) • Unannounced inspection report – maternity services and safe delivery of care inspection Ninewells hospital, NHS Tayside (Healthcare Improvement Scotland) (HIS 2025) The mapping exercise confirmed that recommendations from all seven reviews that relate to the work of midwives are all addressed within the Standards of proficiency for midwives (NMC 2019/2024) and relevant practice elements of Part 3 Standards for pre-registration midwifery programmes (NMC 2019/2023). The mapping identified all of the proficiencies that related to each recommendation. No gaps were found - i.e. relevant recommendations that were not addressed by the proficiencies. Whilst there were no gaps or mismatches between recommendations relating to the work of midwives and proficiencies, the impact of wider contextual issues in maternity and neonatal care was apparent in the mapping and should be taken into consideration. For example, midwives’ ability to be effective in their role was recognised as being contingent on factors such as effective functioning within multidisciplinary teams (MDTs), clinical acuity, adequate staffing levels and skill mix, and/or other institutional decisions; this context also limited midwives’ ability to work to their full scope of practice (e.g. delivering continuity of care and carer). In a ‘reverse mapping’ element, the activity identified numerous proficiencies not included in review recommendations. This could be expected given the remits and focus of each individual review, however it also indicates the breadth and depth of opportunity within the detailed, holistic and evidence based 1Originally published 18 Nov 2019. Updated standards were approved by NMC Council on 25 Jan 2023 and further updated on 29 July 2024 – for further information see Standards for pre-registration midwifery programmes 2https://www.councilofdeans.org.uk/partnerships/uk-network-of-professors-in-midwifery-and-maternal-and-newborn-health/ 1Standards of proficiency for midwives (NMC 2019/2024) to implement midwifery knowledge and skills to improve safety and quality for women, babies and families. It is important to note that the data collection periods and publication dates of all the reviews mapped in this project were before full implementation of the Standards of proficiency for midwives (NMC 2019/2024). This exercise thus maps the preparation of the most recent and future cohorts of midwives, looking forward, not those who were in practice at the time many of the reviews were undertaken. In conclusion, the findings of the mapping are reassuring; there were no gaps or mismatches between review recommendations and proficiencies. However, this analysis indicates an important missed opportunity to fully benefit from the knowledge and skills of midwives. The detailed, holistic and evidence based Standards of proficiency for midwives (NMC 2019/2024) include standards for care across the whole maternity journey that help to prevent complications and promote timely referral. Implementation of the full range of proficiencies is needed to improve safety and quality for all women, babies and families.

Period	17 Feb 2026
Work for	NMC Strategic Midwifery Advisory Group
Degree of Recognition	National