The
State of Maternity Services report states there’s been a 71% increase in older women giving birth in England since 2001 – the highest it’s been since 1984.
It says the rise in the number of older women giving birth, means added complications and a higher demand for midwives and maternity services.
While birth rates in England have risen by 22% since 2001, according to the report published by the RCM.
This is believed to be the equivalent of an extra 10,000 extra babies being born every month.
The report says 5000 more midwives are needed to match the rocketing birth rate in England alone.
Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the RCM, said: ‘It needs to be recognised across the UK that demands are made on maternity services, not just from high birthrates, but also from the increasing complexity of births.
‘The increasing age of women giving birth adds to this, but other issues such as rising obesity also lead to increasing demands on midwives’ time.
‘Across most of the UK we have high birthrates and rising demand, and governments need to ensure maternity services have the resources to meet them.’
She added: ‘This report shows that real attention is needed to plan for the future.
‘The ageing workforce is worrying and we need to be planning to ensure we are training enough new midwives to fill the gaps when these midwives retire.’
Belinda Philips, chief executive of NCT, said: ‘The NCT supports the RCM’s call for more midwives overall and in particular its analysis showing that expanded homebirth and midwife-led unit services would take the pressure off over-stretched hospital staffs and reduce the level of interventions for healthy women.
‘This report shows that the midwifery workforce across the UK is struggling to cope with the numbers and complexity of births but there are different aspects of need in different areas, with some regions needing more student midwives in training and other areas where former midwives returning to practice would be helpful.’
At the launch of the report at the Houses of Parliament, Andy Burnham was present, along with other MPs for England including both Alan Johnson and Henry Smith who both spoke at the event.
Mr Johnson praised Cathy on her ‘splendid job’ of campaigning for midwives since joining the RCM.
Cathy told the MPs: ‘We’re living in very tough economic times and this message may seem like we’re asking for more, more, more, but in fact we are asking for more in order to better services and be more efficient and effective.’
The full report is available to view
here.
