Kate and Anne to hold joint visit to royal medical colleges

Anne is patron of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) while Kate is patron of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), and the royal women will visit their headquarters in London.

The building is home to a collection of women’s healthcare organisations and the hub has been designed by the RCOG to foster collaboration across the sector.

The princess and duchess will meet representatives from Tommy’s National Centre for Maternity Improvement and learn about the innovative digital tools that are being developed to identify and support women with higher-risk pregnancies.

During the visit, Anne and Kate will take part in a roundtable discussion which will bring together sector experts, and new mothers, to discuss the measures being taken to tackle inequalities in maternity care.

There have been a number of serious issues affecting the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies.

The independent Ockenden inquiry into the UK’s biggest maternity scandal found Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust presided over catastrophic failings for 20 years and the findings published in March are the latest in a series of similar reports in recent years.

In February, the Government launched a Maternity Disparities Taskforce to examine the reasons why women and their babies from ethnic minority communities and those from poorer neighbourhoods have worse outcomes.

The announcement came on the same day the Royal College of Midwives called ministers to scrap charges for migrant women, saying that many put off seeking care because they cannot pay for it.

A series of demonstrations staged by March with Midwives was held in November with organisers calling on politicians to listen to all staff and the people who use maternity services, to fund the emergency retention of staff, to support student training and reduce demands on workers.