Blog: Introduction to Assistant Director for Midwifery Tracey MacCormack

Happy International day of the Midwife to all colleagues! I am very proud to be a midwife and delighted to be celebrating this year as the new Assistant Director for Midwifery at the NMC.  

Thank you 

I would like to start by thanking you for everything that you have done over the last year and the significant contribution that you have made to maternity outcomes and experiences for countless women, babies and their families. I would also like to thank midwives who have paved the way for where we are today in areas such as evidence-based practice, choice and personalisation, and safer maternity care. And, to our talented midwifery students, thank you for your hard work as you prepare to join our register. There is still a lot to do of course, but please take a moment to reflect on the progress that we have made. 

My role at the NMC  

I started in this post in March 2024 and have enjoyed learning more about regulation and how we can influence and support all our midwives across the UK. In my role, I plan to collaborate with our specialist midwifery advisers in continuing to be the voice for our profession and support you, our colleagues, with the tools needed to safely support women, babies and families through their pregnancy, birth, and postnatal journeys. 

It has been a tough few years for our profession and my thoughts are with all the families for whom our standards of care have fallen short. The best midwifery care happens in partnership campaign highlights what women would like from their midwifery experiences and gives some positive examples of the benefits of safe holistic, person-centred midwifery care. Listening to, hearing and understanding are our key skills. Good listening and partnerships with midwives made a huge difference to how empowered and positive women felt about the care they experienced. As we await the themes of the CQC report and continue to work on the three-year delivery plan, our future midwifery standards are your guide to the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of today’s midwife. 

My vision for midwifery at the NMC 

My vision for midwifery at the NMC is for midwifery to continue to stand as a profession in its own right throughout the organisation. This clear recognition will support the work we continue to do as we move into the second phase of our work with the review of advanced practice, where the role of the midwifery advanced practitioner in advancing holistic midwifery care will be realised. In phase 2 the midwifery advisors will continue to engage extensively with midwives, the public and service users from the UK ensuring equality, diversity and inclusivity are at the core. We will value your input in shaping midwifery advanced practice, and I encourage you to support your midwifery advisors in developing a clear pathway for advanced holistic midwifery care. 

We are excited to welcome Alex McMahon to the NMC as our independent chair for the work we will be doing on practice learning. This is an exciting time for midwifery as we have a real opportunity to revisit practice learning with a focus on the requirements needed for today’s midwifery practice, so we ensure we have the right learning experiences that today’s students need to thrive as future professionals.  

I am delighted to have the opportunity to understand midwifery systems in the three countries, having worked as a midwife in England. I will continue to visit you across England but will also be visiting Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales over the coming months. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible during these first visits. I plan to visit all four countries regularly and will endeavour to get out and about to see you at work.  

I know how busy you all are but please do take some time to review our work on advanced practice and our standards as we continue to work to improve the experiences of women and shape today’s midwives. 

There is much to reflect on this year, a lot of learning and growth but I remain hopeful that our wonderful profession will benefit from the initiatives being implemented to support improvements. So once again, a personal thank you for everything you have done, thank you for being fantastic midwives and midwifery students, and wishing you all a happy International Day of the Midwife! 

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