For immediate release, December 16th 2011
Commenting today (Dec. 16th) on the office of National Statistics’ Statistical Bulletin regarding women born in 1980 having slightly fewer children on average (1.03) by their 30th birthday than women born in 1965 who had 1.18 children by the same age, Louise Silverton, the RCM’s deputy general secretary, said: “This data shows that the age profile of pregnant women is getting older. Previous data has shown that between 2001 and 2010 the number of births to women aged 40 or over rose by 71%.
“This ageing of mothers means greater demands on maternity services as pregnancies to older women can give rise to complications and a need for (medical) interventions, which demands more of midwives and others in the maternity team. As the number of births is now at a historic high, this, together with the increasing social complexity of care needs for all mothers, has a multiplying effect on the workload heaped on already overstretched midwives.”
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For more information contact the RCM Press Office on 020 7312 3456 pressofficer@rcm.org.uk.
For more information on the ONS data, please call 0845 604 1858
Notes to editors
The Royal College of Midwives is the voice of midwifery. We are the UK’s only trade union and professional organisation led by midwives for midwives. The vast majority of the midwifery profession are our members. The RCM promotes midwifery, quality maternity services and professional standards. We support and represent our members individually and collectively in all four UK countries. We influence on behalf of our members and for the interests of the women and families for which they care. For more information visit the RCM website at www.rcm.org.uk.
