Taking collective action to deliver low carbon, equitable maternity care.
Today, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has published a landmark Green Maternity Report that redefines what sustainable, high-quality maternity care could look like in the context of the climate crisis.
The climate and ecological emergencies are escalating risks to women’s health and reproductive rights worldwide. Action on sustainability is essential to safeguard future generations and uphold the right to safe, compassionate, and personalised maternity care.
Healthcare in high-income countries contributes significantly to environmental harm, with 4.4% of global carbon emissions linked to the sector. Maternity services must be part of the solution.
The new report brings together lived experience, carbon modelling, and case studies to identify eight priority areas and a clear set of evidence-based recommendations.
At the heart of this project was a dedicated Lived Experience Group, whose insights were vital to ensuring that the innovations identified would equitably support the needs of all those using maternity services. Their contributions helped to shape solutions that will benefit the entire maternity system, ensuring that recommendations are both practical and people-centred.
Led by local clinical teams, the case study projects featured in the report demonstrated improvements in care quality, increased efficiency, and delivered cost savings for the NHS – all while supporting more sustainable maternity care.
Professor Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said
“This is an incredibly challenging time to be delivering maternity care – with funding and staffing shortfalls, major NHS reorganisation ahead, and a national maternity investigation underway over the next few months. It can feel overwhelming. The Green Maternity Challenge has been an inspiring demonstration of how much we can achieve in a short time through collective action.
“This report goes beyond recommending carbon reduction in maternity services. It showcases real-world examples of greener care that improve outcomes for women, reduce health inequalities, and save NHS resources – proving that environmental sustainability and high-quality care go hand in hand.
“We urge hospital leaders, government bodies, Royal Colleges, NICE, and others to join us in accelerating progress toward sustainable, equitable maternity care. The urgency of the climate crisis demands coordinated, bold action – now.”
Emma Crookes, Chair of the Lived Experience Group, said:
“It is my hope that this exploration of greener care will inspire more innovation – both in systems and industry – more discussions, and ultimately, a more sustainable and equitable future for women, birthing people and their babies as well as the planet.
“Throughout this project, women with lived experience have been at the heart of the work – shaping, guiding, and co-producing the recommendations to ensure they are grounded in real needs and are meaningful for service users. Their voices have been central to designing these examples of greener care, making this not just a clinical or environmental initiative, but a truly collaborative one that puts patients first.”
Fiona Gibb, Director of Midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives said:
"The RCM welcomes the publication of the Green Maternity Report published which highlights transferable opportunities for all maternity services. Embedding sustainable practices in maternity care is vital to protecting the health of mothers, babies, and future generations. By adopting greener approaches that are both financially and socially responsible, we can safeguard our environment, enhance outcomes, and ensure maternity services remain equitable and prepared for the future."
Hazel Walsh, Chief Operating Officer at The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare said:
“The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare warmly welcomes the launch of the Green Maternity Report. Working in partnership with RCOG, RCM and NHS teams through the Green Maternity Challenge has shown that it is possible to reduce the environmental impact of maternity care while improving quality and outcomes for patients, especially those who are under-served by the system. We look forward to seeing the report’s recommendations adopted across the NHS, helping to create a healthier future for both people and planet.”
This follows the highly successful Green Maternity Challenge, a yearlong collaboration between the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), Royal College of Midwives (RCM), the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH) and the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (SHC).
This work was commissioned and funded by SBRI Healthcare and NHS England. SBRI Healthcare is an Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) initiative, in partnership with the Health Innovation Network. The views expressed in the publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of SBRI Healthcare or its stakeholders.