Introduction to the Midwifery Regulation Strategy

Executive summary

This strategy explains how the Nursing and Midwifery Council's midwifery function will contribute to public protection from September 2026 to March 2030. It sets a clear line from the NMC Corporate Strategy to five midwifery regulatory priorities which will inform the development and operationalisation of a phased implementation plan and governance framework.

The NMC Midwifery Regulation Strategy is deliberately focused on the regulatory levers the NMC owns, shares with partners or can credibly influence. It does not claim that regulation alone controls wider maternity outcomes. Its intended contribution is safer, fairer and more trusted midwifery regulation, with demonstrable learning, accountability and improvement.

Five strategic priorities

• Learn from national reviews and strengthen standards, education and practice.
• Ensure fair, informed and effective midwifery regulation.
• Listen, learn and advance equity and anti-racism.
• Strengthen UK-wide midwifery regulatory leadership and accountability.
• Use intelligence to identify risks and drive regulatory action.

Quality and equity run through all five priorities. Delivery is enabled by strong governance, quality data and technology, UK-wide partnerships, skilled people, human rights and informed choice.

The NMC Midwifery Regulation Strategy

The enduring direction: why the strategy is needed, what the NMC can contribute, and the five priorities that will guide choices through 2030.

Why this strategy, and why now

National maternity and neonatal reviews, investigations and inquiries across the four countries of the UK have repeatedly highlighted the importance of clear standards, effective escalation, strong leadership, listening and learning cultures, equitable care, good education and earlier recognition of risk. The NMC's response must be visible and time-bound, while remaining clear about its regulatory remit and where responsibility sits elsewhere in the system.

Its intended contribution is safer, more equitable, anti-racist and trusted midwifery regulation, with demonstrable learning, accountability and improvement. It will identify and agree the actions required of the NMC; accepted actions will then be mapped across all five priorities, with clear ownership, milestones and measures, and tracked through implementation and evaluation. This makes the response prominent without allowing a time-limited workstream to displace the strategy's enduring framework.

The strategy also responds to persistent inequalities, variability in practice learning, challenges in transition and preceptorship, the need to learn systematically from fitness to practise, and the need for more integrated regulatory intelligence. It provides a framework for prioritising the NMC's contribution without duplicating the responsibilities of employers, commissioners, service regulators, governments or professional bodies.

Evidence informing the strategy

• The NMC Corporate Strategy 2025–2027
• Relevant national maternity and neonatal reviews, investigations, inquiries and recommendations across the four countries of the UK
• NMC standards, education quality assurance, registration, revalidation, fitness to practise, equality and workforce insight
• The experiences of women, families, healthcare leaders, medical colleagues, midwives, students, educators and employers, and
• Intelligence shared by governments, system regulators, other health regulators, professional bodies and other partners.

Our regulatory role and boundaries

Clear boundaries are essential to a credible strategy. The NMC will distinguish between what it owns, what it shares with partners and what it seeks to influence.

What the NMC owns

• Standards and education requirements,
• Registration and revalidation requirements,
• Fitness to practise processes and learning within the NMC's remit, and
• Regulatory data, assurance and public reporting.

What the NMC does with partners

• Share intelligence and learning
• Coordinate with regulators and system leaders, and
• Support implementation of relevant recommendations where responsibility is shared.

What the NMC seeks to influence

• Psychological safety, speaking up and anti-racist practice
• The quality and consistency of education and practice learning
• Employer referral behaviour and fairness, and
• Recognition of and response to emerging risk.

Boundary statement: The NMC is transparent about what it owns, shares and influences. It does not claim direct control over wider maternity outcomes or use regulation to duplicate the responsibilities of service delivery bodies.

Cross-cutting commitments and enablers

Every priority will be delivered through a common set of commitments and enabling capabilities. These are not separate workstreams; they are the conditions for credible delivery.

• Public protection first: prioritise activity according to risk, regulatory remit and potential contribution to public protection.
• Quality and equity by design: consider quality, equity, anti-racism; bias awareness, cultural curiosity, safety respect and human rights throughout policy, delivery and evaluation.
• Evidence-led and proportionate: distinguish an implementation gap from a standards or policy gap before proposing reform.
• Four country approach: maintain a coherent regulatory approach while recognising different policy and service contexts.
• Listen, learn and act: show how the experiences of women, families and professionals change decisions.
• Transparent accountability: report progress, risks, decisions and learning through clear governance routes.

Foundation enablers

• Strong governance and accountability
• Quality data and appropriate technology
• Partnerships across the four countries of the UK and with the right stakeholders
• Skilled, supported and empowered people
• Human rights, dignity, respect and informed choice, and
• Quality and equity embedded across the work.

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