MIDIRS - Midwifery Information & Resource Service

22/01/2026

New on MIDIRS blog: our administrator Clarisse, who has a background in library services, discusses the important role that midwives play in promoting family wellbeing, and signposts readers to free resources designed to encourage reading in the community.

Head to our website (linked below) to read! 📚

https://rcm.org.uk/blog/2026/01/everything-changes-when-you-read-libraries-and-reading-to-support-health-and-wellbeing/

20/01/2026

🔔 Free webinar this Thursday 22 January at 6pm🔔

The National Maternity and Perinatal Audit (NMPA) will present the State of the Nation 2023 report, sharing a wealth of health data and providing a unique picture of birth trends and outcomes across England, Scotland and Wales.

Register here: https://buff.ly/ISIVbEV,,,

15/01/2026

MIDIRS first Search Pack of the Month in 2026 aligns with the RCM's third top research priority, centred around personalised maternity care and its importance in driving informed decision making.

Our Search Packs are pre-made literature searches on topics within maternity research. They contain a comprehensive bibliographic list of articles as well as article abstracts. Click the link below to read January's Search Pack of the Month: MS45 Woman-Centred Care. 💗

https://rcm.org.uk/blog/2026/01/woman-centred-care-search-pack-of-the-month-january/

13/01/2026

This year, MIDIRS turns 40 years old! 🎉

To help us celebrate 40 years of midwifery-led evidence, we are inviting MIDIRS subscribers to give us their feedback on MIDIRS products, events and services. Your feedback will help us to celebrate all that MIDIRS has achieved since 1986 and shape our services going forward.

Completing the 5-minute survey automatically enters you into a prize draw to win a MIDIRS goodie bag. Fill out the form at the link below - we can't wait to hear from you!

https://forms.office.com/e/AHBFrQH3ZY

08/01/2026

Happy New Year from Team MIDIRS! 🎉

Our first Latest Research Update of 2026 is now live, bringing you this week's maternity news and research.

Subscribers, head to your My MIDIRS portal at the link below to read your copy.

https://rcm.org.uk/login/

23/12/2025

Happy holidays from Team MIDIRS 🎄However you celebrate the season, we hope that you have a restful festive period and a brilliant new year!

MIDIRS helpdesk will be closed from this evening until the 5th of January. We look forward to seeing you all in 2026🎆

20/12/2025

Missed our last Midwives-in-Training Research and Journal Review Club? A recording of our December session is now available on MIDIRS YouTube. Follow the link to see student midwife and researcher Emily Bates discuss the impact of student midwives in maternity research:

This recording of the Midwives-in-Training Research and Journal Review Club (MITRJRC) December session, with guest speaker Emily Bates, took place on 8 Decem...

17/12/2025

MIDIRS Wrapped 2025 is here! Swipe to take a look back on some of our achievements over the past year. 💗

We are so proud to continue to provide evidence-based resources to midwives, maternity support workers, students and allied health professionals around the world. Our 2025 statistics demonstrate how busy Team MIDIRS has been ensuring that the latest maternity research is brought to our subscribers.

As we head into our 40th year as an organisation, look out for special features, events and information across our socials and website. We can't wait to celebrate with you! 🎉

Be sure to make the most of your subscription, including our free student journal club, the MIC database (the world's largest midwifery-specific literature database), our quarterly Digest, and our weekly Latest Research Update newsletter.

Interested in subscribing? Head to our website to learn more. https://rcm.org.uk/midirs/midirs-subscribe/

14/12/2025

The 'Hot Topic' for December's edition of MIDIRS Midwifery Digest is written by Mary Warrilow, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Lipoedema UK.

MIDIRS Editor Sara Webb writes in the foreword "Lipoedema is a chronic, often under-recognised adipose tissue condition that predominantly affects those assigned female at birth; it's often misunderstood and misdiagnosed as obesity or lymphoedema, leaving many women struggling to get an accurate diagnosis, treatment or care. Mary discusses how midwives are uniquely placed to see early signs of lipoedema, and therefore to increase the likelihood of its earlier diagnosis and management. MIDIRS is delighted to partner with Lipoedema UK to help promote the Lipoedema awareness campaign".

You can read Mary's article in the latest edition of MIDIRS Midwifery Digest. Head to our website to learn more. 📚

https://rcm.org.uk/midirs/midirs-midwifery-digest/

11/12/2025

📣 Midwives voices are needed in shaping research into childbirth-related perineal trauma📣

A project led by Chapter group (Childbirth Acquired Perineal Trauma project) and Chorus group (an International Collaboration for Harmonising Outcomes, Research and Standards in Urogynaecology and Women's Health) is seeking midwives, alongside other healthcare professionals, to create a core set of outcomes that will improve consistency and efficacy of research.

These outcomes, which cover all types of perineal trauma, will be decided by three surveys, followed by a consensus meeting. All respondents who complete all three survey rounds will be invited to the collaborative authorship in the final core outcome set publication.

Head to the link below to register for the survey and help improve research:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=z8oksN7eQUKhXDyX1VPp86k8Swk7EzFFgFROfmPiBYRUMUk0TzcxOVEwNFJUUTdFQk9BSkpLRlhNVC4u

09/12/2025

MIDIRS Search Pack of the Month for December reinforces our mission to supply maternity health care professionals with evidence-based resources to develop knowledge and practice. 📚

Our Search Packs are pre-made literature searches on topics within maternity research. They contain a comprehensive bibliographic list of articles as well as article abstracts. Head to our website below to learn more about our mission and access our final free Search Pack of 2025. ✨

https://rcm.org.uk/blog/2025/12/evidence-based-practice-search-pack-of-the-month-december/

05/12/2025

New on MIDIRS blog: Dr Sarah Bolger, a dual-qualified nurse and midwife and Senior Lecturer in Midwifery, discusses the impact of workplace culture in maternity service, and the importance of organisations listening to maternity staff.

Read here: https://buff.ly/4A2uhIk