Restorative supervision for student midwives: the professional midwifery advocate in the classroom

Women and their families are entitled to high quality, safe and effective maternity care, yet reports have identified failings in areas of care such as risk assessment and care planning. As a result, there have been fundamental changes in the way midwives are regulated in the UK. With these changes came the development of a new model for midwifery clinical supervision, aligned to the aims of the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to provide a high quality service, delivered by resilient, highly valued, well-supported midwives. This article will consider the role of a Professional Midwifery Advocate in a university setting to explore how the early introduction of the role and implementation of group-based restorative supervision may positively impact on student midwives' training, reduce attrition rates, encourage the development of resilience and foster an ethos of peer support.