International Women’s Day is both a celebration and a call to action. As the Professional Lead for Midwifery and Women’s Health at the RCN, I see daily the extraordinary contribution that nursing and midwifery staff make to women’s lives. I also see where our systems continue to fall short -often in ways that are entirely preventable.

In October 2025, the Westminster Government announced it will publish a renewed Women’s Health Strategy in 2026. At the RCN, we welcome this commitment. But for women, this strategy must become more than a policy document, it must be a turning point. 

In Wales, the Women’s Health Plan for Wales 2025-2035 is built around a simple but powerful principle: women make up 51% of the population, yet their health needs have not always been reflected in how services are designed. The plan sets out its vision to close the gender health gap, improve diagnosis and establish women’s health hubs across every health boar, so that women at any stage in life are treated equally, are listened to, and have their health needs understood.

Northern Ireland is in the early stages of developing its first Women’s Health Strategy, with a new three‑year Women’s Health Action Plan beginning to bring together existing work and set priority actions. While progress is slow, it is hoped this work will improve the existing long waiting times and significant inequalities in women’s healthcare in Northern Ireland.  

In Scotland, the Women’s Health Plan focuses on improving research, strengthening data, and expanding access to services across key areas including menopause care, gynaecological health, menstrual wellbeing and the elimination of cervical cancer by 2040. It also recognises the importance of embedding women’s health considerations across all areas of health policy.

Taken together, these approaches signal a growing recognition that women’s health cannot remain a niche concern. When more than half the population are women, designing health systems around their needs is not a special interest — it is simply good health care.

For too long, women have told us the same story: symptoms dismissed, pain minimised, concerns explained away. Whether the issue is menstrual health, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, menopause, fertility, maternity, or long-term conditions, women’s experiences are always taken seriously.

For these strategies to be effective, they must move beyond consultation into measurable action. Listening to women must be embedded into service design, commissioning, education, and workforce planning and not simply added as an afterthought.

And of course, we can’t talk about women’s health without addressing inequality. Outcomes vary sharply depending on ethnicity, disability, geography and socio-economic status – and where these identities often intersect.

Right now in the UK in the 21st century, Black and Asian women remain more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth than their white counterparts. And wom  en in deprived communities face poorer access to preventive and specialist services. 

The renewed England strategy  must directly confront these disparities and outline a clear pathway to address them – backed with investment and accountability.
No strategy can succeed without the workforce to deliver it.

Nursing and midwifery staff provide the majority  of women’s health services. From school nursing and sexual health to maternity, gynaecology, menopause care and community support. Women have been, and continue to be, pioneers and advocates for greater recognition of health conditions that predominantly effect women.

But staffing shortages, workload pressures and fragmented services are undermining our ability to provide the continuous, compassionate care our patients deserve.

This is not just a UK issue. The International Confederation of Midwives estimates the world needs an additional one million midwives to meet the needs of women and newborns safely. That figure is stark, and reflects a global failure to invest in women’s health.

It’s great to see work being done to review approaches to Women’s Health across the UK, but to even begin to scratch the surface of what needs to change there must be:

• A clear workforce plan for midwifery and women’s health nursing.
• Investment in education and advanced practice roles.
• Recognition that specialist women’s health nurses are essential, not optional.
• A renewed focus on the understanding that maternity care is based on a relationship of mutual trust and respect between the clinician and their patient.

Any truly effective strategy must understand that midwifery and women’s health nursing takes place throughout the entire life course. From conception and pregnancy through to childbirth, menstrual education, sexual health, post-natal recovery, menopause care, and understanding how long-term conditions impact women differently, a truly cradle-to-grave approach is needed.  

Primary care will be pivotal in this. Investing in specialist women’s health nurse roles will strengthen community gynaecology pathways and reduce delays in diagnosis.

Too many gynaecological conditions remain underdiagnosed or diagnosed late. Women often endure long waits, repeated consultations, or the normalisation of symptoms that severely impact quality of life. 

Prevention means ending years of unnecessary suffering.

We know that women have historically been underrepresented in research, and that gender-specific data gaps persist. If we want better outcomes, we must invest in research that reflects women’s diverse lived experiences, and publish transparent data that tracks progress.
Ultimately, I hope for cultural change.

A system where women are believed. Where pain is not normalised without further investigation. Where informed choice is a genuine reality. Where services are genuinely co-designed with the communities they serve. And where the expertise of midwifery and women’s health nursing staff is recognised as essential to achieving transformation.

Progress doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because people push for it professionally, politically and personally. Historically, it has been women doing the pushing, but the time is now for every member of our profession to commit to improving the experiences of women and girls across all health and care settings. 

At the RCN, we will continue to advocate for Women’s Health Strategies that are properly funded, workforce-enabled, and unapologetic in their commitment to equity.
This is the commitment we need on International Women’s Day – and all year round.