State of maternity services report, England (RCM, 12 July 2023)

Summary

This report by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) highlights the impact of midwifery staffing shortages on women. It looks at historical failures to invest appropriately in maternity services and talks about a mounting maternity crisis, drawing attention to Care Quality Commission inspections of maternity services that are identifying concerns around safety directly linked to staffing shortages.

According to the report’s findings, if the number of NHS midwives in England had risen at the same pace as the overall health service workforce since the last general election, there would be no midwife shortage; there would be 3,100 more midwives in the NHS, rather than having a shortfall of 2,500 full-time midwives. The RCM published the results of a survey last month which showed that midwives give 100,000 hours of free labour to the NHS per week to ensure safe care for women. It also showed that staffing levels were repeatedly cited as cause for concern around the safety of care, and that midwives and maternity support workers are exhausted and burnt out.