Records of the Royal College of Midwives Branches

The collection comprises the minutes, correspondence and papers of the following Branches of the Royal College of Midwives (1909-1993), providing an insight into the activities and policies of midwives associations operating on a local level throughout the United Kingdom:

• RCM/G1 - Lancaster Branch of the RCM (1949-1982)
• RCM/G2 - East Riding Midwives Association (1971-1992)
• RCM/G3 - Nottingham Branch of the RCM (1994)
• RCM/G4 - Oxford Branch of the RCM (1930)
• RCM/G5 - Gillingham Midwives Association (1921-1940)
• RCM/G6 - Bath Branch Midwives Association (1951-1967)
• RCM/G7 - London Branch Midwives Association (1909-1913)
• RCM/G8 - East Sussex Midwives Association (1924-1964)

Midwives Associations proliferated in the United Kingdom after the Midwives Act of 1902. The officers of the Midwives Institute subsequently set about travelling around the country in order to explain the advantages of having a single united voice. As a result of these efforts thirty-five associations of midwives, had been persuaded to affiliate themselves with the Midwives Institute by 1910.

To begin with the local activities undertaken by these affiliated associations were mainly educational, involving the organisation of lectures and training. However as the twentieth century progressed they increasingly became groups of midwives, with an intimate knowledge of conditions affecting midwives in the area, who worked locally for the advancement of the midwifery profession.

In 2011 there were over 200 Royal College of Midwives Branches operating across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, holding regular meetings for members where they can give and receive support as well as discuss professional and workplace issues.

The original order of material is retained, although where this is not possible the arrangement of files has been based on the functions and activities of the organisation as well as chronology, subject and the needs of users.

Permission is required for external access to records less than twenty years old. Also restrictions apply if material includes personal information of living individuals. All other records are open to research by appointment, Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. For further information about accessing the collection and visiting the reading room, please contact: archives@rcog.co.uk

There is no record of the source or date of acquisition before this material was deposited under the terms of a collection care agreement at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in May 2011.

Catalogued by Clare Sexton, Project Archivist in accordance with ISAD(G).

Further details of the contents of this collection are available on request.

Copyright belongs to the Royal College of Midwives. To reproduce this material, please apply via the College Archivist: archives@rcog.co.uk

This collection was previously held at the Royal College of Midwives.