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RCMRachel Drain — no licensed photograph is available, so the sector leader plate is shown instead.

Sector leader

Rachel Drain

Quality and Standards Adviser, Royal College of Midwives

Royal College of Midwives is based in Bermondsey and Old Southwark (London) — the organisation’s base, not a personal address.

Press citations

1

Topic

1

Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Last quoted

Aug 2026

Rachel Drain: key facts

Kind of voice
Sector leader
Role
Quality and Standards Adviser
Organisation
Royal College of Midwives
Organisation based in
Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Quoted on
Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
Tracked press citations
1
Most recently quoted
27 Aug 2026

Who Rachel Drain is

Rachel Drain is the Quality and Standards Adviser at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), the UK's only professional organisation and trade union dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team. In her role she develops and communicates clinical guidance, including authoring RCM blog commentary on changes to NICE guidance, birth trauma, and vaccination programmes. She represented the RCM in the development of NHS England's Maternity Care Bundle, published in January 2026, which establishes a whole-system approach to reducing maternal deaths and serious illness. She has also spoken publicly on the welfare of pregnant women in the criminal justice system, welcoming an independent investigation into the use of restraints on pregnant prisoners in 2026. Her publicly stated positions emphasise the importance of evidence-based standards, informed choice in maternity care, and the right staff in the right place with appropriate training.

“the findings were 'deeply concerning' and that 'urgent, coordinated action' was needed to tackle the root causes of the disparities”

References for this biography

  1. 1.Royal College of Midwives backs whole-system approach to maternity safety in new national care bundle — Confirms Rachel Drain's title as Quality and Standards Advisor at the RCM and her role in the NHS England Maternity Care Bundle development (January 2026)
  2. 2.Using guidelines and evidence to support women to make fully informed choices – Royal College of Midwives — Confirms title and role; establishes her focus on NICE guidance and evidence-based informed choice in maternity care (September 2024)
  3. 3.Watch RCM webinar featuring RSV vaccine guidance and advice for midwives – Royal College of Midwives — Confirms title and her role as RCM spokesperson on vaccination policy for pregnant women (August 2025)
  4. 4.RCM welcomes independent investigation into use of restraints on pregnant prisoners – Royal College of Midwives — Confirms title and her public statements on care of pregnant women in the criminal justice system (April 2026)
  5. 5.Why the new RCM Birth Conversations Toolkit can help women process birth trauma – Royal College of Midwives — Confirms authorship of the RCM Birth Conversations Toolkit and her expertise in birth trauma (June 2026)
  6. 6.ROYAL COLLEGE OF MIDWIVES (THE) overview – Companies House — Confirms RCM registered office address as 10-18 Union Street, London, SE1 1SZ
  7. 7.About us – Royal College of Midwives — Confirms RCM press office contact details: media@rcm.org.uk and 020 7312 3456

Notable achievements

  • Represented the RCM in the development of NHS England's national Maternity Care Bundle (January 2026), a whole-system framework to improve maternity safety and reduce maternal deaths. Source ↗
  • Authored the RCM's Birth Conversations Toolkit (June 2026), a resource to help midwives support women processing birth trauma. Source ↗
  • Acted as RCM spokesperson on the RSV vaccine rollout for pregnant women, articulating the profession's position on workforce capacity and evidence-based vaccination guidance (August 2025). Source ↗

Where Rachel Drain has been quoted

  1. Babies born to black mothers 81% more likely to die in neonatal care, NHS study showstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

Contact & links

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.

Chief executives, directors and spokespeople of trade bodies, representative associations and charities speaking for the sector. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. This profile was last updated on 5 Oct 2026. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.