March for Midwives: 'The situation is at crisis point'

Hundreds of people have joined in vigils across the West Midlands to highlight the current maternity crisis.

A recent survey carried out by the the Royal College of Midwives shows more than half of staff are considering leaving the profession.

Many midwives feel staffing levels are "unsafe" and have created a March for Midwives movement.

In Birmingham, hundreds of people gathered in Victoria Square in the city centre.

Elsie Gayle, a practising midwife in the West Midlands, said at the vigil: "The situation is at crisis point at the moment in terms of staffing... many have left, many midwives plan to leave, but it also highlights a long-term situation in terms of the number of midwives in the system."

She said the pandemic had made the situation worse, leading to a "massive crisis".

"Hence we're calling for attention now, so that we can actually do something fundamental to change the situation for midwives, for mothers, families, to improve the service because to be honest, British midwifery is world renowned for being first class," she added.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Midwives do an incredibly important job and we know how challenging it has been for those working during the pandemic.

"There are more midwives working in the NHS now than at any other time in its history and we are aiming to hire 1,200 more with a £95m recruitment drive."

The statement added the mental health and wellbeing of staff "remains a key priority".

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