NMC publishes Midwifery Action Plan progress report

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has reported on the progress of its Midwifery Action Plan to help midwives deliver the highest standards of care.

Under this plan, the regulator is pleased to announce that it will launch a new data dashboard for midwifery – providing a snapshot of Fitness to Practise (FtP) information for the four countries of the UK.

The dashboard will share important regulatory insights to help the NMC’s partners in the sector – including employers – to understand the FtP landscape for midwifery.

These data will include demographics, time on the register, and will be relevant to each of the four UK nations – supporting partners to tailor training and pastoral support where it will have the biggest impact.

Also under the plan, the Council has agreed to consult in February 2026 on proposed changes to midwifery education, including exploring whether to extend the duration of midwifery programmes.

The progress report confirms that work is underway for independent midwifery professors to review the NMC’s standards of proficiency against recommendations from recent maternity reviews. Work has also begun to map all midwifery curricula being delivered by UK universities against the NMC standards of proficiency.

These two reviews will help the regulator to understand whether it needs to strengthen its standards in areas such as cultural competence, unconscious bias and anti-racism – to help tackle unacceptable health inequalities.

Prof Donna O’Boyle MBE, Acting Executive Director of Professional Practice, said:

“Last month, we published our Midwifery Action Plan, setting out the concrete steps we’re taking to help ensure that women, babies and families get the safe, equitable and person-centred maternity care they deserve.

“A key part of this work is our new midwifery data dashboard, which we plan to publish by the end of January. It will be a vital tool for system leaders, employers and others to understand the sorts of concerns we’re receiving in midwifery – helping them to tailor their training and support accordingly.

“These insights, along with our ongoing work to review and improve our standards, will help support midwives to deliver the best possible care.”

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