Prof Warwick, chief executive of the RCM, signed the country's 30,000 midwives to a campaign to legalise abortion up to birth. 

Cathy Warwick, the chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), will step down from the role and retire at the end of August 2017, it has been announced.

Prof Warwick is also Chairman of Trustees for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), and came under fire when she signed the RCM up to their "We Trust Women Campaign", which advocates for full decriminalisation of abortion on demand up to birth.

This means that the RCM, which is Britain's biggest maternity union -representing nearly 30,000 midwives and health workers - is calling for women to be allowed to terminate an unborn child at any stage of pregnancy, for any reason, with no criminal sanctions.

"Not in our name"

This caused outrage among RCM members, and thousands of midwives and members of the public signed a "not in our name" petition. SPUC also collected over ten thousand signatures calling on Prof Warwick to resign.

According to the RCM, Prof Warwick is stepping down to retire, as she will be 65 in August. She said: "I have absolutely loved my time at the RCM. It has been a privilege to work with all of our wonderful members and to do everything we can together to ensure women and their babies get the best possible care."

"Not a moment too soon"

John Smeaton, SPUC’s chief executive said: "SPUC has been calling on Prof Warwick to step down for months- this news comes not a moment too soon. Midwives and abortion do not go together. As Mary Doogan, one of the Glasgow midwives said, there was clearly a conflict of interest behind this gruesome decision.

"It beggars belief that a woman who purports to be the leader of the country’s midwives should be campaigning for the killing of babies on an industrial scale. It is to be hoped that she will be replaced with someone who demonstrates more concern for the lives of unborn children."