The NMC Responds To Conservative Postnatal Care Proposal, UK

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 06 Feb 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) welcomes in principle any initiative to improve the delivery of health services and believes that all women would benefit from additional social support in the days and weeks after giving birth. However it is important that those receiving care fully understand who is providing the service.

As the regulator for UK nurses and midwives, the NMC sets the standards for training and education, and only those who meet our standards are allowed entry to the register. Previously, statutory requirements limited input from a midwife beyond 28 days after birth but in 2004 this was amended to allow postnatal care from a midwife to last as long as the midwife deems necessary.

Christina McKenzie, NMC Head of Midwifery said: "This initiative may create a new role for maternity support workers under the direction of a midwife but their roles need to be clearly defined in order to ensure that new mothers are aware of the distinctions in the type of care they can expect to receive."

The NMC's Chief Executive and Registrar, Sarah Thewlis will be writing to the Conservative leader David Cameron, inviting him to meet to discuss the regulatory impact of this ambitious initiative.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the UK regulator for two professions, nursing and midwifery. The primary purpose of the NMC is protection of the public. It does this through maintaining a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses eligible to practise within the UK and by setting standards for their education, training and conduct. Currently the number of registrants exceeds 686,000. The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (The Order), sets out the NMC's role and responsibilities.

The independent panel is selected from a pool of individuals appointed by the Appointments Board. They come from a variety of backgrounds and are not NMC Council members, nor do they sit on any committee of the Council.

Nursing and Midwifery Council