We are pleased to announce that Kate Brintworth has been appointed to the role of Chief Midwifery Officer for England. This follows a rigorous recruitment process, which included contributions from colleagues at NHS England and other key stakeholders including the Royal College of Midwives and a family voices panel.

Providing safer and more personalised maternity care and ensuring every woman, no matter where they live in England, is provided with the very best care before, during and after their pregnancy is crucial and a central part of this role. Kate will pioneer the team in delivering our Three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services working alongside Matthew Jolly, our National Clinical Director for Women’s Health, and Duncan Burton, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England – Delivery and Transformation Programme .

Kate has been a midwife for 26 years. She is currently the Chief Midwife for NHS England in the London region and will join the national team in June. She brings with her a wealth of experience and has worked strategically across many parts of the maternity system, including as Head of Maternity Transformation at the Royal College of Midwives, and Head of Maternity Commissioning for East London.

Kate has also been part of regional maternity networks, national expert reference groups for commissioning, postnatal and continuity of care, and research steering groups for complex programmes of research.

We look forward to welcoming Kate to her new role.

Chief Nursing Officer for England, Dame Ruth May, said: “Providing safer and more personalised maternity care and ensuring every woman, no matter where they live in England, is provided with the very best care before, during and after their pregnancy is crucial and a central part of this role.

“I’m delighted to welcome Kate into this role. Her extensive and varied experience are an absolute asset and I look forward to seeing the impact she will make as part of the national NHS England team when she takes up the post in June”.

Gill Walton CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “The role of Chief Midwifery Officer is such an important one for every single person involved in maternity services, not least midwives and maternity support workers. That’s why it was a privilege to be part of the recruitment process, to ensure that we have someone in post who has the vision and the energy to drive quality and safety in maternity. In Kate Brintworth, we have someone who has that in abundance and everyone at the college is looking forward to working with her”.

Chris Binnie, bereaved parent, national maternity service user for culture and leadership, and chair of the families panel in the interview process said: “Having a service user panel as part of the recruitment, and indeed at the heart of the process for recruiting such a key role, is an enormous step forward and a real demonstration of how seriously listening to all families should be taken by all maternity and neonatal services. It is a positive start to the appointment of the new Chief Midwifery Officer. Huge congratulations to Kate on her appointment and we look forward to working with her”.

Kate Brintworth said: “I am delighted to have been given this honour and look forward to working with our fantastic midwifery teams, clinical colleagues, families, the royal colleges and the many organisations who care about the future of maternity services to make pregnancy and birth the equitable, safe and joyous experience we all want it to be.

“Being a midwife continues to be a huge privilege for me, so the opportunity to support our teams to help pregnant women and families across England as they go through this profound time in their lives makes it the most incredible opportunity”.