• family planning service provision
• long-acting reversible contraception
• midwives

We are grateful to Drs Walker and Davis for their letter1 which suggests that the views expressed by midwives in our study2 (regarding lack of knowledge and training on contraception) are likely to represent midwives’ experiences throughout the UK. We also are pleased to learn that local initiatives are underway (such as those in Lanarkshire) to facilitate access to the contraceptive implant for selected groups of mothers. We feel that a national approach to midwifery training with greater emphasis on contraception is needed, in combination with close links between maternity services and local sexual health services, so that strategies such as those described by Drs Smith and McLellan3 can be successfully embedded as normal care for all postpartum mothers and can remain sustainable.