Midwives give cautious welcome to Scottish budget

By Midwives give cautious welcome to Scottish budget on 07 February 2020 Midwives RCM RCM Member MSWs - Maternity Support Workers Maternity Services RCM Scotland Scotland Scottish Government NHS Scotland Scottish Maternity Services

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has cautiously welcomed the announcement of an additional £6 million for the ongoing implementation of the far reaching Best Start recommendations for maternity and neonatal services in the Scottish Government’s budget yesterday.

The RCM’s Director for Scotland, Dr Mary Ross-Davie, said:

“I am pleased to see this commitment from the Government to maternity and neonatal services, although we await the detail of how this funding will be used to support midwives in developing high quality care. There is recognition within the budget that investment in these areas have a huge part to play in reducing health inequalities, which we welcome. The continuation of the Baby Box provided to all new families in Scotland and the Best Start grant for those families in particular need will undoubtedly support this.”

The RCM also welcomed the planned expansion of the ‘Attend Anywhere’ virtual clinics, which should help pregnant women living in remote parts of Scotland to reduce how many hours they have to spend travelling to attend antenatal appointments.

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