22.02.12
More midwives – but more babies too
There are “more midwives working in the NHS than ever before”, according to provisional figures released by the Conservative Party.
The figures suggest that there are now 21,028 midwives in England, up 4.4%, which is the highest absolute number since the statistics began to be collected in 1995.
Critics – including the Royal College of Midwives – note that because of the increasing birth rate, the number of babies born per midwife has barely changed, and that the increase is still far less than David Cameron promised before the election: 3,000 more midwives forEngland.
RCM deputy general secretary Louise Silverton said: “If births are rising faster than midwife numbers then, regardless of this rise, the shortage of midwives will be getting worse, not better.
“If the number of midwives is rising faster than births then that’ll be good news, but the Government shouldn’t be counting its chickens before they are hatched – there’s already a big shortage of midwives to make up. Nationally, we are campaigning for 5,000 more midwives and are aggressively promoting our e-petition.”
Health minister Simon Burns said: “It makes a huge difference to patients that there are now more midwives working in the NHS than ever before.”
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