Struggling midwives left feeling the pain
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 09/01/2007 * Your <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=RQLV20VH1VXQPQFIQMFSF FWAVCBQ0IV0?view=BLOGDETAIL&grid=P30&blog=yourview&xml=/news/2007/01/08/ublv iew08.xml> view: How important are midwife services? Midwives are struggling to cope with an increase in births while suffering redundancies, job freezes and financial crises, their professional body says today. At the same time, according to the Royal College of Midwives, more maternity assistants - who are not qualified midwives - are being used in maternity units. A survey of heads of midwifery across the country has revealed a "depressing picture" with the service becoming the Cinderella of the NHS, the college said. Survey responses from 102 out of 216 heads of midwifery or senior midwives found two thirds claiming that their units were understaffed and more than one in five saying they had lost staff last year. The average staff loss was 3.5 per cent. As well as delivering more babies, births were becoming more complicated, the midwives reported. This is partly because of the increase in women delaying their pregnancies into their 30s and older. Figures from the Office of National Statistics show more than 722,500 births in 2005, a rise of 6,600, or 1 per cent, on the previous year. "This is irrefutable proof that midwives are under enormous pressure and nothing is being done to alleviate the situation," said Louise Silverton, the deputy general secretary of the college. "Heads of midwifery are in charge of making sure that women have a good birthing experience and that is very hard when a third of those who responded to our survey said their maternity services budget had been cut, that a total recruitment freeze was still in place in many units and that newly-qualified midwives are not getting jobs." Miss Silverton added: "This survey should make it very clear that maternity services are being pared back at a time when the Government's manifesto pledges to give all women choice over where and how they give birth as well as being supported by the same midwife throughout her pregnancy. "Unless midwifery services are expanded there is no hope of these manifesto commitments being achieved." The senior midwives who responded to the survey reported 66 per cent of their trusts in deficit in 2005-06. They said more maternity support workers were being used in place of fully-trained midwives and that trusts were employing fewer qualified staff compared with a year ago. The units were using an average of 21 support workers last year against 19 in 2006. Trusts were slashing training budgets, with 18 per cent saying that the budget had been totally cut and the same number saying the training budget had been cut by 75 per cent. Another 32 per cent said it had been cut by 50 per cent and 32 per cent said it had been cut by 20 per cent. Miss Silverton said maternity care assistants were being employed instead of newly-qualified midwives. "While that may reassure midwives that their jobs are not being left undone, unqualified staff cannot undertake the full role of the midwife," she added. The newly-qualified midwives were the "students that the Government encouraged to join the midwifery profession just three years ago to address long-term shortages. It is somewhat ironic that although there is a clear need for these new midwives, there is apparently no money to employ them. "This is terrible news for a Government that in its election manifesto pledged that every woman would have a named individual midwife to care for her by 2009. "The midwifery shortage is getting worse rather than better at a time when we are experiencing a significant increase in the number of births." Prof Allan Templeton, the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which is campaigning to redress the shortage of consultant obstetricians said: "We feel the situation in maternity units is getting worse rather than better. Maternity services have to move up the agenda. "In recent times there has been a 5 per cent increase in consultants each year and, although we do not have the final figures, we think this slipped back last year." He added: "There are no Government targets for maternity services and they are third and fourth on the agenda. They are never seen as a priority." A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Maternal mortality is as low as it has ever been, as are rates of infant mortality. Giving birth is safer now than ever before. We are working with the Royal Colleges of Midwives and Obstetricians on an NHS reform plan which will enshrine the principles of safety, quality and choice. "Through increased investment in training staff and finding ways for midwives to come back to work in the NHS, we expect to see further increases in the midwifery workforce. But there is more to be done." There are almost 2,500 more midwives than in 1997, and the number of students entering training had risen by 41 per cent, the spokesman added. Best Regards, Kelly Zantey Creator, <http://www.bellybelly.com.au> BellyBelly.com.au Conception, Pregnancy, Birth and Baby <http://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth-support> BellyBelly Birth Support
