At least a decade before midwife shortage ends

Despite midwife numbers increasing faster than births it will be at least another decade before England has enough midwives, according to new figures from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM). The RCM estimates that currently England is short of 5,000 midwives.

The RCM looked at changes in the number of births and midwife numbers since the 2010 election and projected these forward to future years. Assuming both continue to grow at a similar rate it will be the middle of the 2020s before the national midwife shortage is eliminated. Two regions in England - the North West and South West - have seen a fall in midwife numbers over the past three years.

In 2012 there were 694,241 live births in England. This was up from 688,120 in 2011, and 687,007 in 2010. So, between 2010 and 2012 the number of live births in England rose by 7,234, or 1.1%. Last year’s rise means 2012 saw more babies born in England in one year than at any time for over four decades.

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “This Government like the previous Labour Government recognises the importance of midwives and the need to increase their numbers.

“However, these figures show that a step-change is needed in getting more midwives into the NHS. Nearly seven million women in England will give birth between now and the mid 2020s. We should not be making these women wait a decade to get the high quality care and support that our maternity services should be providing.

“The challenge now is to ensure locally across England that student midwives get jobs in the NHS when they qualify. I look to the Government but more importantly to the new local NHS organisations to make this an absolute priority. A week may be a long time in politics but a decade is an awfully long time to wait for a maternity service that we can be proud of.”