Midwife services 'under pressure'

Heads of midwifery also reported inadequate staffing levels and concerns over cuts in NHS budgets.

The study, for the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), was released to coincide with the start of its annual conference in Brighton. A total of 58 heads of midwifery in England were asked about their experiences.

Three quarters (76%) said they had seen an increase in their birthrate this year and just over half (53%) said the births had become more complex.

Eight out of ten (81%) who use a standard tool to measure staffing levels said they did not have enough staff available. Fewer than one in five (18%) said their staffing levels were about right. More than one in 10 (12%) reported a cut in the number of staff they had - by an average of 1.5%.

There was also a drop in the recruitment of newly-qualified midwives, with an average of 6.9 taken on this year, dropping from 8.3 in 2005. A third of senior midwives said they had seen reductions in budgets, with the average level of cuts running at 2%.

Training budgets for ongoing professional development have also been hit, with a third of staff questioned saying they had been cut - by an average of 37%.

General secretary of the RCM, Dame Karlene Davis, said: "The experience of pregnancy and childbirth is hugely important to women and their babies. In order to deliver the best possible care midwives have got to be given the resources they need. What we are seeing now are midwives taking on greater workloads as the birthrate increases, and dealing with increasingly complex births with fewer staff.

"The service is being kept afloat by their dedication, hard work and goodwill. The issue has got to be tackled and tackled now if the Government's own targets for maternity services are to become a reality. This situation is unsustainable, it is unacceptable and we are calling on the Government to work with us to solve the problem now, and build better maternity services for the future."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "As part of a review of maternity services, the local NHS is already looking at staffing needs, and we expect some areas to identify the need to invest in their maternity services and recruit additional staff. We are also working with organisations such as NHS Employers to help the NHS find posts for the 1,000 midwives due to qualify between now and 2009, and to bring qualified midwives back into the workforce."