Released on: 08 July 2013

Having worked well together for a number of years, MIDIRS approached NCT in 2009 with a proposition to merge.

An agreement was signed two years ago and we are both delighted to announce the merger decision is now final and we are now able to undertake the process of bringing both charities together as effectively as possible to fulfil our mutual objects (the purpose for which the charity was set up).

Protecting MIDIRS' brand

MIDIRS was a ground-breaking charity when it was set up and continues to perform a valuable independent service for the midwifery profession.  We are very aware of that legacy and the MIDIRS Board of Trustees together with NCT Trustees  have agreed a set of measures to ensure the independence and integrity of the MIDIRS editorial position and services.

We will recommend a change to the NCT articles at our AGM in September 2013. The NCT Board of Trustees will recommend to its members that two of the MIDIRS charitable objects are added to NCT’s objects.

In addition, the NCT governing documents will provide for a MIDIRS Advisory Committee to safeguard the MIDIRS publications and support the MIDIRS Editorial Board and Advisory Panel.

This body is to be set up to further assure MIDIRS editorial independence. Both the Editorial Board and Advisory Panel and the new Advisory Committee will protect the publications from any interference from commercial interests or campaigning or lobbying activity of NCT or any other organisation.

MIDIRS’ new Advisory Committee and Editorial/Advisory Board/Panel will be strengthened with appropriate expertise from the midwifery and research community to ensure that MIDIRS remains as a respected name, an ethos and producer of high quality information, as well as acting as the independent voice for midwives.

The next step will be drafting full Terms of Reference (considering the World Association of Medical Editors  guidance) in consultation with the current editorial Board/Panel, setting up the Advisory Board and appointing appropriately skilled, experienced and qualified people from the midwifery and maternity fields and from research and education.

Next steps

Going forward we would like to conduct market research among stakeholders and beneficiaries to establish what range of services and support they are looking for, what is working well and how and when they want to receive information from us. This will inform the development of a new strategy for MIDIRS and its products and services and allow us all to invest time and energy in making sure the direction is appropriate for the future and that its services meet the requirements of midwives.

Our mutual objectives

It is very early days for both of us, but we are committed to managing the current financial situation and finding a positive future for the staff, the services and publications.

As a result of the merger we expect MIDIRS to be able to reach more midwives with evidence based information in a format that is most useful to them, and NCT’s capacity to produce evidence based information targeted at parents will be substantially improved.

 

To access the statement on MIDIRS website please visit:

 http://www.midirs.org/2013/07/16/announcement-from-midirs-board-of-trustees-about-the-merger-of-midirs-with-nct/

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