Physiology-informed maternity care

Since 1960, the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services (AIMS) has campaigned to improve the UK's maternity services. The charity also supports women and birthing people, as well as their families and carers directly through a helpline and by sharing information in their books, journal and website.

AIMS is a volunteer-run charity, consisting mainly of lay people, although it does include midwives and other medical professionals. The charity's vision is ‘a future where every family has a positive maternity experience where they feel informed, heard and respected’. Its mission is to ‘support all maternity service users to navigate the system as it exists, and campaign for a system that truly meets the needs of all’. This is supported by three pillars of work:

As a campaigning organisation, the aim is to engage in the national debate as an effective and well-informed lay voice, and act as a ‘critical friend’ for the development of initiatives and guidelines. The charity's key long-term campaigns are for: