Midwifery Unit Network conference brings maternity research and practice together at City St George’s

City St George’s, University of London hosted the Midwifery Unit Network (MUNet) Conference in September. Under the theme of “Transforming Maternity Care”, the conference celebrated 10 years of MUNet, and what has been learnt, shared and achieved in that time. Over the course of the day, the event also brought together an outstanding line-up of international speakers to explore the vital role of midwifery-led care in improving outcomes and transforming maternity services for women and birthing people, as well as the impact and the future of midwifery-led maternity care.

Speaking about the conference, Dr Lucia Rocca-Ihenacho, CEO and co-founder of the Midwifery Unit Network and a Senior Lecturer in Midwifery from City St George’s, said: “At a time of increasing pressure on maternity services, the MUNet conference provided an opportunity to reconnect, reflect and be inspired, and also close the policy-research gap. It also provided an important opportunity to bring together research, practice and lived experience, and to explore how we can continue to strengthen midwifery-led care. The programme showcased the breadth of work taking place across the UK and Europe, while creating space for meaningful discussion about how evidence can translate into better experiences and outcomes for women and birthing people.”

The day began with an introduction from staff from the School of Health & Medical Sciences at City St George’s, including Michelle Ellis, Associate Dean for EDI, Professor Vasanti Jadva, Director of the Centre for Maternal, Reproductive and Child Health, and Dr Rocca-Ihenacho, who gave an overview of the last 10 years of MUNet, before a keynote session exploring ‘Evidence, impact, politics and power’.

The keynote programme included a talk by Professor Christine McCourt, Professor of Maternal and Child Health at City St George’s, who spoke about birthplace research on birth settings, implementation and sustainability, including barriers and facilitators. Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, Chief Midwife at the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), then discussed how ICM – which has been the global voice for midwives for over 100 years – is supporting the scaling up of midwife-led care in Europe. She said that the evidence is no longer the controversial part; the controversial part is why systems still fail to act.

Finally, Wendy Olayiwola, National Maternity Lead for Equality at NHS England, gave the last talk in the session and addressed inequalities in maternity care and access to midwifery units, highlighting the importance of considering access and equity alongside the development of maternity services.

After a coffee break, the first panel, ‘Women and birthing people at the centre’, focused on experiences, choices and decision-making in maternity care. Speakers included Lenka Laubrová Žirovnická, who in a pre-recorded video discussed contributions to choice and respectful maternity care in Czechia; Sarah Wall, Service User Voice Lead, who explored service users’ choices and experiences of midwifery-led unit care in the North East and Yorkshire; and James Bourton, a midwife, who shared his experiences of working in a Freestanding Midwifery Unit in Powys, Wales, and what attracted him there.

Anna Melamed, midwife and lecturer at the University of the West of England, then considered antenatal risk assessment and midwifery unit access, including re-evaluating safety and risk, while Dr Anna Madeley discussed non-normative decisions and birth planning.

The afternoon continued with ‘Transforming maternity care across Europe’, examining developments in midwifery units in different European countries. Presentations covered mapping midwifery units in Europe, implementation of birth centres in Spain and Europe, scaling up midwifery units in Switzerland, the role of obstetricians in supporting midwife-led care and birth settings, and Sweden’s first freestanding birth centre. A further panel, ‘From evidence to action: supporting the continuous improvement of midwifery units’, focused on practical approaches to quality improvement.

Dr Cassandra Yuill and Dr Marie Lewis then presented on the Midwifery Unit Self-Assessment (MUSA) Framework and its role as a quality improvement programme. Dr Tracey Cooper discussed three years of MUSA Framework collaboration in the North East and Yorkshire, while Shelly Higgins explored implementation of the framework in Wales. Natalie Carter and Ruth Harris focused on implementation in London, and Hope Jackson and Dr Rocca-Ihenacho presented a pilot study of the European Midwifery Unit Accreditation (EMUA).

The conference concluded with the launch of the updated European Midwifery Unit Standards 2026, alongside the EMUA Certification of Commitment. Overall, the conference highlighted the breadth of work around midwifery-led care, from research and service-user experience to international collaboration, quality improvement and accreditation, as well as the brilliant achievements of MUNet over the past decade.