A new triennium with a new President, Board and officers: for ICM it's 'time to get political'.

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The ICM Council has agreed a new governance structure for the ICM, which is led by a President, Vice-President, a Board member who holds the financial portfolio and nine other Board members.

The new President of the ICM is Canadian midwife Bridget Lynch, previously Deputy Director of the Board. A practising midwife for over 25 years in Toronto, Canada, Bridget is also Assistant Professor at McMaster University in Toronto. She has served as President of the Association of Ontario Midwives and a founder member of the Canadian Association of Midwives.

The Vice-President is Frances Day-Stirk from the UK, currently Director of the International Office of the Royal College of Midwives. Frances has had the role of RCM representative at the European Federation of National Nurses' and Midwives' Association (EFNNMA).

Marian van Huis becomes the member with financial portfolio, following a period as President of the Royal Dutch Organisation of Midwives 1998-2005, and a number of roles with EFNNMA and the European Midwives Association.

The Board members are: Deliwe Nancy Nyathikazi, Society of Midwives of South Africa; Marieme Fall, Association Nationale des Sages-Femmes d'ETAT du Senegal; Debrah Lewis, Trinidad & Tobago Association of Midwives; Karen Guilliland, New Zealand College of Midwives; Sylvia Fung, Hong Kong Midwives Association; Eva Selin, Danish Association of Midwives; Mary Higgins, Midwives' Section of the Irish Nurses Organisation; Vitor Varela, Associacao Portuguesa Dos Enfermeiros Obstetras. One role remains vacant and the Board will seek a new nominee.

In an emotional closing ceremony at the end of the 28th ICM Triennial Congress, outgoing Director Judi Brown thanked all the previous Board members for their hard work and introduced the new members to the Congress. Dame Karlene Davis handed the President's chain of office to Bridget Lynch and received the applause of...