RCM - Midwife number slumps (7 February 2022)

Summary

In this blog, Stuart Bonar, Public Affairs Advisor at the Royal College of Midwives, looks at the growing midwifery workforce crisis in the UK. For the first time since records began, the number of midwives is falling year-on-year. The impact on those midwives who remain in the NHS is bigger workloads and decreasing wellbeing. The author calls on the government to pay attention to the situation, and suggests that an adequate pay rise for midwives and midwifery assistants should be part of the solution to falling staff numbers.