The product aims to ensure that midwives are ‘comfortable and confident in accessing the services they need’, says service director

Midwife support service Zest Health Innovation Consulting has today (24 January 2023) launched a midwifery insurance programme in partnership with Acrisure affiliate MGAM.

The new programme – which is now publicly available to purchase in England, Scotland and Wales – is designed to provide cover and support for independent midwives throughout antenatal, intrapartum and post-partum care.

Insurance will be acquired through Lloyd’s of London insurers and the programme will be brokered by Acrisure London Wholesale – the insurance intermediary of Acrisure Re.

The launch of the programme follows the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) investigation, which revealed that the indemnity scheme provided for members of Independent Midwives UK (IMUK) was insufficient in January 2017.

Zest director Tracy Thomas said that launching the programme aimed to ensure that “midwives are comfortable and confident in accessing the services they need to care for families and their babies”.

Risk management

She continued: “This programme will provide a cost-effective, broad based insurance cover for midwifery support and I’d like to thank all the stakeholders involved, especially Acrisure, whose work has been instrumental in working to close the protection gap created by previous policies available to independent midwives.”

MGAM chief executive Jason Anthony added: “Zest’s commitment to and passion for excellence and safe practice is coupled by decades of experience in midwifery. The new portal is quick and easy to navigate and it avoids overwhelming midwives with unnecessary administration.”

Meanwhile, Gavin Johns – senior vice president at Acrisure London Wholesale – said: “The programme is backed by extensive field expertise introduced by Alan Stokes at Zest, who played a pivotal role in making this programme possible.

“The deep product knowledge and insurance expertise from Acrisure, the Lloyd’s of London insurers as well as our innovative MGA partner, MGAM, makes this an exciting initiative for the midwifery sector.”

Stokes currently serves as a director at Zest.