Journal Page

What makes for good antenatal education in the current birth climate, and why?

Vol. 38, No. 1, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 1 By Janet Balaskas Many years ago, in the late 1970’s, I gave birth for the first time. A few weeks before the birth I…   Read more…

Why, as a neurodiverse antenatal teacher, I understand the needs of neurodiverse parents and the benefit of face-to-face education

Vol. 38, No. 1, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 1 By Rebecca Cumming As a neurodiverse antenatal teacher, I bring both professional knowledge and lived experience to m…   Read more…

A personal reflection on the Amos Review Update, December 2025

Vol. 38, No. 1, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 1 By Jo Dagustun, AIMS Volunteer What was asked for - a fresh pair of eyes A public ministerial briefing, if you will,…   Read more…

ANTENATAL EDUCATION: A pedagogy of the oppressed

Vol. 38, No. 1, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 1 By Mary Nolan My brief for this article outlined by AIMS Editor, Alex Smith (an innovative, radical and hugely skille…   Read more…

What do women learn about birth and where? Extending the concept of antenatal education to ‘the birthroom’

Vol. 38, No. 1, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 1 In this article, AIMS volunteer Jo Dagustun draws on her work as a geography student, to offer some thoughts on the c…   Read more…

Teaching consent: A conversation

Vol. 38, No. 1, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 1 With Rachael Bickley and Alex Smith I started my conversation with Rachael by asking her to introduce herself. Rachae…   Read more…

Editorial: What is there to learn? Different perspectives on preparing for birth

Vol. 38, No. 1, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 1 By Alex Smith Welcome to the March edition of the AIMS journal. This issue explores the question of antenatal educati…   Read more…

Antenatal Education in Imaginary Hindsight.

Vol. 38, No. 1, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 1 An Editorial foreword: As an antenatal educator I would often invite the expectant parents to imagine that their baby…   Read more…

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

Vol. 38, No. 1, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 1 By The AIMS Campaigns Team Published written outputs: 8th November: AIMS Response to the NHS 10 Year Workforce Plan C…   Read more…

Maternal Medicine Networks

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Natalie Whyte Maternal Medicine Networks were commissioned by NHS England in 2021 following MBRRACE reports showin…   Read more…

The Medication Dilemma in Pregnancy: Balancing Efficacy and Safety

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Dr Megha Singh, MuM-PreDiCT programme manager, and Dr Jingya Wang, epidemiologist, University of Birmingham Introd…   Read more…

Just Baby, Me and Multimorbidity: Where Did All the Care Go?

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Dr Etomby Namme I was born with Sickle Cell Anaemia . My parents didn’t know it at the time, but after a couple of…   Read more…

Am I on a different path to everyone else? Will I be a mummy?

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Mary Smith From a young age, my dream was to be a mother—at one point fantasising about having five kids! Growing…   Read more…

Conflicting advice for pregnant women with multiple long-term conditions

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 Researchers Siang Ing Lee and Ngawai Moss report on the qualitative study they conducted to inform a core outcome set…   Read more…

Women, Pregnancy and Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities and Cautions in the Age of Digital Maternity

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Christopher Yau, Nuffield Department for Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford on behalf of the MUM-…   Read more…

Personalising Women’s Care as a Midwife

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 “ Following the maternity review and the publication of Better Births in 2016 one of the key findings was that person…   Read more…

Maternity care co-ordination for women with two or more long-term health conditions (MLTC): The need for joined up care

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Zoe Vowles Background The MuM-PreDiCT study has found the number of women experiencing pregnancy with two or more…   Read more…

Communicating Risk in Pregnancy: Supporting Women with Multiple Long Term Health Conditions

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Sally Darby The experience of pregnancy and of navigating maternity services can feel daunting and isolating. This…   Read more…

Complex needs, complex solutions: Reflections on the launch of the MBRRACE report 2025

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Nadia Higson Attending the launch of the latest MBRRACE 1 report Saving Lives, Imp…   Read more…

Editorial: Improving maternity care for all

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Alex Smith Welcome to the December 2025 issue of the AIMS journal. Building on last summer’s edition, ‘ When the M…   Read more…

The MuM-PreDiCT project: fact-finding and awareness-raising on pregnancy and multimorbidity

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Rachel Plachcinski, Patient and Public Involvement lead and co-investigator with the MuM-PreDICT project. Women of…   Read more…

Highlighting the time volunteers give to research projects and what we feel we contribute.

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By the AIMS Campaigns Team How AIMS contributes as a Patient and Public Involvement partner In addition to our own ca…   Read more…

Mental Health Matters

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 The precise definition of multiple long-term conditions, or multimorbidity, remains d…   Read more…

Women with Multiple Long-term Health Conditions in Pregnancy and Travel-Related Barriers to Quality Care

Vol. 37, No. 4, ISSN 2516-5852 (Online)

AIMS Journal, 2025, Vol 37, No 4 By Pavithra Harshani Warnakulasooriya and Mairead Black Access to safe, timely, and coordinated maternity care is a c…   Read more…

Latest Content

Journal

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Sovereignty of the Body: Birth, Int…

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 2 By Tamara Blakemore The First Breath I’m a birth artist, and apparently I’m here to talk about the sovereignty of the body, which feels s…

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Scottish Maternity Update: Review o…

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 2 By Camille Del Pozo and Anne Glover on behalf of the AIMS Campaigns Team Background AIMS wrote to Neil Gray, the Cabinet Secretary for He…

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The sovereignty of the body in preg…

AIMS Journal, 2026, Vol 38, No 2 By Alex Smith Welcome to the June 2026 edition of the AIMS journal. This issue is about the sovereignty of the body in pregnancy and chil…

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Events

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AIMS Workshop: Wellbeing

AIMS is delighted to be hosting a Wellbeing workshop delivered by Ruth Weston , veteran birth activist, AIMS volunteer and author of 'Born Stroppy Make Change Happen'. Th…

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Threads of Protest

Join us for the launch of Threads of Protest A new exhibition at Science Gallery London exploring inequality in maternity care through creative practice, lived experience…

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AIMS Workshop: Focusing on Rights i…

Join us for one of our series of interactive online AIMS workshops, " Focusing on Rights in Pregnancy and Birth ". Emma Ashworth (principal author of "The AIMS Guide to Y…

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Latest Campaigns

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Making sense of maternity service r…

By Jo Dagustun, Senior Campaigns Volunteer As readers grapple with the latest set of national recommendations and actions from Donna Ockenden's Nottingham report , Valeri…

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AIMS comments on the 10 Point Plan…

In the light of two recently-published hefty reports on the past and present functionality of the maternity and neonatal services, first in Nottingham and then across Eng…

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Open letter to Michelle Welsh MP, N…

17th June 2026 Dear Michelle The AIMS Campaigns Team, and AIMS more broadly, would like to warmly welcome you to your new role as National Maternity Advisor. We look forw…

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