Categories

Click on a category below for more detailed criteria information

1. Johnson’s Baby Award for Excellence in Midwifery Education
2. Bio-Oil Team of the Year
3. Student Travel Scholarship Award
4. Philips Avent Award for Innovation in Midwifery
5. Vitabiotics Award for Promoting Normal Birth
6. Mothercare Award for Excellence in Maternity Care
7. Slimming World Award for Excellence in Initiatives in Improving Public Health and Reducing Inequalities
8. Pampers Award for Excellence in Postnatal and Neonatal Care
9. Thompson's Members’ Champion Award
10. NMSF Award Supporting Training and Rewarding Excellence in Bereavement Care
11. Pampers Award for Mentor of the Year
12. Maternity Service of the Year
13. Johnson’s Baby Mums' Midwife of the Year Award

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Johnson's® Baby Award for Excellence in Midwifery Education

This award recognises those who have led and pioneered work in midwifery education, and influenced the theory and practice of midwives to the benefit of clinical practice, and care of mothers, their babies and families.   This award is dedicated to:

• an innovative and engaging educational initiative that is making a difference to midwifery education and practice, which has improved performance and delivered enhanced skills and capabilities, or.
• a midwife teacher or a group of midwife teachers  including mentors who have either designed a new educational resource  or tool, and have implemented and evaluated its effect on the initial and continuing education of midwives and/or student midwives, or
• an exceptional leader of midwifery education, who has consistently  demonstrated  commitment to improving midwifery education in the UK; and
• exploring opportunities to integrate appropriate Government policy (for example including any other qualified provider of education).

The judges are looking for:

• Evidence of cutting edge, high quality innovation  and pioneering work in midwifery educational theory applied to practice
• An initiative or work that adds to the art and science of midwifery
• Explicit application of educational theory to clinical practice
• A critically reflective approach to the process of midwifery education and practice
• A high level of creative and educationally appropriate use of educational methods and media
• Cost- effectiveness and sustainability

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Bio-Oil® Team of the Year

This award is for the midwifery team (encompassing midwives, the medical team, maternity care support workers/nursery nurses and others) that is able to demonstrate attributes of dynamism, commitment and enthusiasm, and high levels of excellent inter-professional team working. The team would be one that may have designed a unique way of working or model of care within a contemporary maternity service. The team would be one that has an appropriate skill mix and an innovative and consistently high quality approach to the provision of care to women, their babies and families.

The judges are looking for:

• A clear description of the team composition and ways of working
• How the team members work together to enhance care provision
• Evidence of how regulated and non regulated roles integrate for seamless care
• Implementation and evaluation strategies
   

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Student Travel Scholarship Award         

This award  provides a  travel bursary for  a student midwife (or small group of students) currently undertaking courses leading to midwifery registration, to gain experience of the organization of maternity services and midwifery services in a different setting to the one the student midwife is familiar with This scholarship   provides a unique opportunity  to assist  a student midwife or group of students to undertake a carefully planned elective placement away from the normal educational and practice environment.  This may be in a UK or overseas area.  

The elective must be undertaken before qualification, and the end of the student’s education programme.  The submission needs to include the rationale for the elective placement, background information about the proposed placement, how will it benefit the development of midwifery knowledge and practice, timescale and costs.  Electives cannot be funded retrospectively.  

The judges are looking for:

• A strong motivated rationale for the choice of the particular placement
• A well researched plan with clear learning and development objectives
• A good understanding of global health issues applied to midwifery practice
• Ideas for sharing the key learning from the experience with fellow students afterwards
• A realistic assessment of travel costs.

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Philips Avent Award for Innovation in Midwifery

This award will be made to an individual or a team, who have developed an exciting, ‘cutting edge’ evidence-based, creative initiative within any sphere of midwifery practice, that embeds the full scope of midwife’s role and has led to improved practice, some which may be explicit and others yet to be demonstrated in evidence.  It may include work which may later lead to formal research or audit, or be the step after research and audit, putting a research into practice.

The judges are looking for:

• True innovation, not simply new ways of working or implementation of policy
• Clear demonstration of the identified need and personal rationale
• Detail of the process of implementation from concept, to design, initial planning through to evaluation
• Evidence of impact on midwifery practice/service delivery/education
• Plans for further research, development and full evaluation.
• Midwives developing models of care to provide care to women and families under new National policies and frameworks – (eg  the Department of Health (England) Any Other Qualified Provider)

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Vitabiotics Award for Promoting Normal Birth

This award focuses on initiatives taken to minimise intervention and promote normal birth for women and their babies.  The project needs to reflect changes in provision of care during antenatal, labour and postnatal periods, and the holistic needs of the mother, baby and family throughout.

The initiative may be developed within a midwifery led unit, consultant unit or home birth setting.

The judges are looking for:

• A well thought through rationale for the initiative
• Detail of the process of implementation
• Comparative data e.g.  improvement in normal birth rates – locally and nationally
• Potential for transferability to other units or areas of practice
• The effect on the care and support of women, their babies and families, and their short and long term well being
• A consideration of how this could be transmitted to students and junior staff.
• Cost-effectiveness and sustainability.

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Mothercare Award for Excellence in Maternity Care      

This award is for an individual or group of midwives who have pioneered an initiative providing an excellent standard of care to women, their babies and families.  It might be a model that ensures a high level of continuity of care, or a unique way of working or providing care to a particular group of women and their babies.

The judges are looking for:

• A clear description of the project/initiative and the reason for its development
• Illustrating a system or tool that achieves consistently excellent standards of care to mothers and babies
• Mechanisms for review, evaluation and reflection on the care being provided
• The evidence base underpinning the project, and identification of any evidence being generated by the project to add to the midwifery body of knowledge
• Implementation and evaluation strategies

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Slimming World Award for Excellence in Initiatives in Improving Public Health and Reducing Inequalities

This award recognises an individual or team who have developed and led an initiative that has secured measurable improvements in the delivery of public 

health outcomes and health promotion in the community. The award recognises the demonstration of a high level of working with other agencies and user groups.

The judges are looking for:

• A clear description of the project/initiative and the reason for its development
• The evidence base underpinning the project/work; and the measures being used to review the impact of the project on  the health and wellbeing of women and families
• A strong demonstration of engagement with  relevant agencies to improve public health
• Implementation, evaluation and dissemination strategies to move the initiative into wider practice.

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Pampers Award for Excellence in Postnatal and Neonatal Care   

This award will be presented to an individual or a team who have developed an initiative or project which has effectively demonstrated a commitment to an exceptional standard of postnatal and neonatal care to women, their babies and families.

The project or initiative needs to be well supported with evidence and research, and should address the educational, social, physical and psychological needs of mothers and babies, and how these might best be met in contemporary maternity services.

The submission should address the context of care, and the planning, evaluation and development of the postnatal initiative and how it might best be disseminated more widely to students, midwives and other services.

The judges are looking for:

• Detail of how the individual or a team initially identified the need for the initiative/project, its efficient and effective planning, implementation and evaluation  
• A creative, innovative and service user focused initiative which takes account of contemporary maternity services
• Clarity on how the intervention links with the current context of care
• Evidence of the use of appropriate research and evidence to base the initiative/project
• A consideration of the impact of the midwife in postnatal care in relation to this project/work
• The measured short and long term benefits to women, babies and maternity services
• Evaluation of the impact of the project on the service, and how it might best be shared and disseminated throughout the midwifery and health service  community

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Thompson's Members’ Champion Award 

This award recognises and rewards an RCM workplace representative (steward, health & safety representative or union learning representative) or RCM branch officer who has been nominated by RCM members or the Regional/National Officer for their work on behalf of members.  To nominate a representative for this award, you should cite examples of how they have supported or represented members, or shown initiative and persuasion in promoting the RCM and recruiting members, or contributing to the activity of their RCM Branch.  

The judges are looking for:

• Details of how the nominated representative makes a difference for members in the workplace
• How the nominated representative contributes to the value and benefit of belonging to the RCM for members
• Evidence of initiative, enthusiasm and dedication in promoting the work of the RCM in the workplace

Please do not, however, include details of any personal case work handled by the representative
 

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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NMSF Award Supporting Training and Rewarding Excellence in Bereavement Care

This award recognises the difficult challenges that result from this area of maternity care.  The award will provide funding for Jake’s Scholarship to enable a midwife with at least five years experience to undertake education and training into bereavement care with the aim of improving care to women and families.  

The course of studies may equip the midwife to provide support through bereavement counselling, or through staff development activities.  Once qualified, the winner will be designated one of Jake’s Midwives and required to provide a follow up report to NMSF and RCM on how the Bursary is distributed and what changes it has enabled.  Alternatively the midwife may wish to have existing work and achievements recognized and supported for the future.  

The judges will be looking for an individual who:

• demonstrates a strong commitment to supporting parents through the bereavement process
• shows evidence of an initiative or service development which has worked in practice
• has documented experience of previous involvement in this area.
• has a commitment to educate and support colleagues to ensure good practice is disseminated
• can identify the training need which,  if fulfilled, will lead to improved excellence in Bereavement Care
• can present a specific plan of what would be changed at their maternity unit/trust through the training bursary
• provides explanation of any existing skills or strengths that will be improved and honed through the training

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Pampers Award for Mentor of the Year

This award will be presented to an individual who has supported either a newly qualified midwife during the preceptorship period, a student midwife during her/his  midwifery education programme or a Maternity Support Worker (MSW) learner during preparation for her/his role. The mentor will be nominated by their student/learner and will have demonstrated outstanding clinical and supervision of practice skills, enabling the learner to have developed their practice or role with knowledge, practical competence, and confidence. Both mentor and mentee will attend the award ceremony.  

The submission must describe how the mentor has made a different to the experience and learning of the person making the submission, illustrating how the mentor assessed the learning needs, planned the learning experiences, and assessed the students progress and achievement.

The judges will be looking for:

• A descriptive account of the individual’s learning and development experience with her/his mentor
• A midwife who demonstrates exceptional clinical skills
• A description of an outstanding mentor, able to assess, plan and evaluate the student’s learning.
• Evaluation of the short and long term impact of the mentor’s support and teaching
   

Click here to download the entry form for this category

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Maternity Service of the Year

This will not be open for member nomination through the website this year.

Nominations will be put forward by RCM regional/national officers. The Head of Midwifery will then be invited to present to the judging panel

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Johnson's® Baby Mums' Midwife of the Year Award

As part of its alliance with The Royal College of Midwives, the makers of JOHNSON'S® Baby want to recognise the people who make bringing children into the world an amazing experience. Exceptional midwives are very special people – they can calm the most anxious mum-to-be and provide an essential source of reassurance and support. The JOHNSON'S® Baby brand may have helped care for over a billion babies, but midwives have helped you with the hardest part.

Click here for more information

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