Re:Birth was a project led by the RCM with an aim to find a consensus on the language used by midwives, maternity support workers, and all maternity staff used to describe birth and labour. The year-long project listened to women's voices to really hear and learn more about how the language that was used during their maternity care impacted their experiences.

While the project was led by the RCM it was truly collaborative and brought together not only midwives, but obstetricians, groups representing women and key maternity care stakeholders.

In this episode, Gemma speaks to Dr. Mary Ross Davie and Dr. Juliet Rayment to learn more about how and why this came about. Maureen Treadwell from the Birth Trauma Association also shares her involvement in the project and the impact language can have on women's maternity experiences.

Obstetrician Alex Heazell discusses how important the language he and his colleagues use is and his hopes for the outcomes of the project practically.

The Re:Birth project also developed a tool kit to support all maternity staff and Consultant Midwife Dr Angela Kerrigan joins this episode to explain more about how midwives and MSWs can use the new conversation starter guide in their day-to-day practice.

You can read the Re:Birth summary report here

New maternity lexicon puts personalisation of care front and centre (rcm.org.uk)