Ruth Weston heard midwife activist, Leah Hazard, speak at the ARM 50th Anniversary Conference this summer. Ruth (with Leah’s permission) has summarised Leah’s exceptional talk about how to be a working midwife and safely advocate for improvements to midwifery.
From her speech at the ARM 50th anniversary Conference June 2026
Until this last year, Leah Hazard said, she would not have described herself as an activist but now she describes herself as “the resident midwifery big mouth!”. At the ARM 50th anniversary conference in June, Leah probably gave the most practical and important speech of the day: how to be an activist midwife and not be sacked for it.
As with Ruth’s Born Stroppy, being an activist slowly crept up on her before bursting into the public domain. In October 2025 her activism really took off, with the death of the Cahills as the trigger. The midwives who had been caring for the Cahills had been awake for 30 hours. This is not an exception for midwives – dangerous though it is both for families and midwives. Excessive working shifts and working hours for midwives have become normalised in the current maternity system.
Leah said the NMC code has a duty of candour, the question was how to speak out effectively whilst retaining her current role and career in midwifery. She shares her wisdom with us here.
- Do it, but be smart about it.
Yes! Do it! Why should a woman and a midwife not write a book? Midwives fear being punished and fear losing their job and career. Leah feared this too but decided to do it anyway but be smart about it. Now, she said, “opening my big mouth has become a conduit between those at the grassroots/ frontline of delivering maternity care and the policymakers.” She still gets “really scared” when weighing up what to say and do, and how to say and do it, but so far her activism has been safe and effective.
- Think like a medic – right intervention, right time?:
When midwives or medics deliver an intervention such as a drug, we ask ourselves, “Am I the right person, is this the right intervention, at the right time?” In the same way when we speak out or take action (intervene) we ask ourselves:
- Am I the right person to deliver this message?
- Is what I am saying true? Real? Helpful?
- Is the message clear and well focused?
- Is this the right route for this message right now?
- Is it the right time to be saying this?
- Follow the Code.
Follow the NMC Midwifery Code of Practice.
- Promote the profession and trust in the profession
- Act with honesty at all times
- Use the media responsibly, co-operating with the media only as appropriate
- Protect confidentiality and dignity.
- You also have an employer: don’t get fired
- You need to check your contract – including and especially the small print.
- Don’t disclose where you live and where you work
- Never comment in the media on local issues, or criticise your employer in public
- If it feels wrong – don’t do it. Use your instinct.
- Absolute No-No’s – never comment in the media on:
- GB News and The Daily Mail (because of racism and other forms of bigotry)
- Any news story/ media attention on your own Health Board/Trust/Hospital
- Anecdotes about dangerous situations at work
- Topics beyond your remit as a midwife (for instance, don’t comment on family tax credits, the dustbins or suchlike)
Leah was clear, straightforward and candid about her activism and being smart about it. But it was clear that the lack of her Union’s support had given her pause for thought – she recognised what many grassroots midwives have already discovered, that the RCM is not for them when the chips are down. Her final words were also telling: She told us that her next book is called Birth Wars, and is coming out in 2027. She will then probably be leaving frontline birth work. She hopes not to be sacked before then.
Challenging the system whilst on the inside is often time limited but clearly Leah is being smart about it: she has a plan.