What has the AIMS Campaigns Team been up to this quarter?

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 2

A report from the AIMS Campaigns Team

Published written outputs:

• Feedback to Woman’s Hour on their coverage of the latest AMOS report

• Speaking notes on Continuity of Carer for meeting with Wes Streeting MP and Baroness Amos

• AIMS Submission to the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation

• Comment on parliamentary debate on appointing a Maternity Commissioner: Should we appoint a Maternity Commissioner in England? AIMS responds.

• Review of Scotland’s Maternity Care Standards (You can read our review here)

Conferences and group meetings attended:

• February 5th: NHS England Stakeholder Council, online

• February 5th: MBRRACE/PMRT Stakeholder Meeting, online

• February 10th & 20th: Homebirth Campaign meetings with ARM, Birthrights and NCT, online

• March 4th: Meeting of the National Maternity and Neonatal Collective with Baroness Amos and Wes Streeting, London

• 10th March: Plan-A dissemination meeting, online

• 14th March: ARM Study Day meeting, Saltaire

• 17th March: Maternity APPG meeting, London

• 20th March: Leading and Managing Change session for third year student midwives, University of York

• 20th March, 17th April: First and second meetings of NHS England Home Birth Standards Working Group, online

• April 17th-19th: Annual meeting of the European Network of Childbirth Associations, Warsaw

• April 23rd: NHS England Stakeholder Council Awayday, online

• April 27th: QMNC (Quality Maternal and Neonatal Care research alliance) Calabash Cafe, online: Birth in Every Culture: A Northern Uganda Birth Center Puts the QMNC Framework into Practice.

Who we have been liaising with:

ARM, Black Mothers Matter, The Motherhood Group, Birth Trauma Association, Cardiff University, NCT, Make Birth Better, Race Equality Foundation, Birthrights, NHS England, NHS maternity professionals, Department of Health and Social Care, University of York, various member organisations of the European Network of Childbirth Associations, City St Georges University, University of Central Lancashire, Midwifery Unit Network, Gloucester Maternity Action Group, Royal College of Midwives, Sands, University of Manchester, University of Southampton, Kings College London, Caribbean and African Health Network, Maternity APPG, University of Aberdeen, National Maternity and Neonatal Collective members, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, National Maternity and Perinatal Audit, MBRRACE, ministers, shadow ministers and spokespeople on maternity.

• 5th February: detailed reply from the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit to AIMS comments on their State of the Nation and Induction Audit reports: Birth Activists Briefing: NMPA State of the Nation Report for 2023

• 5th March: email to MBRRACE asking whether their next report could explore how many of the mothers who died had experienced Continuity of Carer or support from specialist teams.

• 2nd April: email to NI Consultant Midwives to enquire about updates to PHA Regional Framework on outside of guidance which was originally published in August 2023.

• 17th April: peer reviewed a scientific impact paper on understanding intrapartum pyrexia (fever in labour) for the RCOG (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists).

Thank you to everyone who engages with us, in our mutual ambition to improve maternity services.

What we have been reading/listening to/watching:

• Independent Investigation into Maternity and Neonatal Services in England – Interim Report, published on February 26th 2026

• Numbers and proportions of women giving birth in UK midwifery units since 2016: a secondary analysis of data reported to the UK Midwifery Study System (UKMidSS) - ScienceDirect

• Maternity (Perinatal) Incentive Scheme Year 8: Supporting safer care through evaluation and evolution - NHS Resolution

• Antenatal risk assessment and classification in maternity care: An integrative review

• Why the NHS keeps choosing hospitals

• The “Fresh Eyes” approach to intrapartum fetal monitoring – your voice matters - Maternity & Midwifery Forum

• A case study analysis of a successful birth center in northern Uganda - PubMed

• “Ot Nywal Me Kuc” Birth Center

• The Scottish Pregnancy, Births and Neonatal Data dashboard

• Job boost for newly qualified nurses and midwives - GOV.UK

• Webinar on point of care Ultrasound in Pregnancy

• Student midwives' exposure to physiological birth: An analysis of 3055 births

• MMH Webinar Fetal movements April 2026

• Talking about rights - FrameWorks UK

• NMC Professionals Survey 2025

• Birth Activists Briefing: NMPA State of the Nation Report for 2023

• Brazil’s community health workers inform primary care reforms in England | Nature Health

• Methodology Review Report - Birthrate Plus

• The Buurtzorg Model of Care

• NHS England » Improving postnatal care: a toolkit for integrated care boards, partners and providers

Thanks to all the AIMS campaigns volunteers who have made this work possible. We are very keen to expand our campaigns team work, so please do get in touch with campaigns@aims.org.uk if you’d like to help!