Women giving birth are not getting proper care because NHS maternity units are having to deal with staff cuts, recruitment problems and smaller budgets, midwives warn today.
Increasing workloads caused by record numbers of births, more complex pregnancies and too few staff are having a negative effect on patient care, according to over half (54%) of 3,690 midwives polled.
Those results, from the NHS Staff Survey, underline serious concerns outlined today ina separate survey of heads of midwifery (HOMs). Among 83 HOMs in England questioned by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), 30% said their budget had been cut and 33% said they had been asked in the last year to reduce their staffing levels. Two-thirds said they did not have enough personnel to cope with demand.
Pressure is growing on maternity services. The number of births in England rose from 563,744 in 2001 to 671,058 last year, a 19% rise. But during the same period the total number of midwives grew from 23,075 to 26,451 – a rise of 14.6%.
The growing number of mothers-to-be who are obese, older or teenagers – many of whom need extra support for high-risk pregnancies – is placing extra demands on services. Despite that, 47% of HOMs said they expected to have to lose some staff next year.
The findings have prompted fresh concern about the quality and safety of maternity care, said the RCM general secretary, Cathy Warwick. "The NHS will be facing a fall in its income in real terms in the next few years and I have great fears for the future. If maternity services are struggling now, how will they cope when there is less money?"
Recent improvements could disappear if maternity budgets were not protected, she said. "I am deeply worried that we are seeing static or falling budgets, yet midwives and maternity services are faced with a continual demand."
Warwick will tomorrow take the coalition parties to task for failing so far to honour their pre-election pledges to increase midwife numbers. The RCM says 3,000 extra are needed.
Dr Tony Falconer, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), said: "As well as a need for more midwives, there is a need for more consultants to deal with the increase in the number of high-risk pregnancies."
Belinda Phipps, chief executive of parenting charity the NCT, said: "We are extremely concerned by the picture these figures paint about the future of maternity services."
Anne Milton, the public health minister, said: "The secretary of state made it clear in a recent meeting with the RCM that the government will continue to train midwives at current rates. We are considering ways of helping improve midwife recruitment and retention, especially given the increased number and complexity of births in recent years."
