Midwives accuse ministers of hypocrisy over training cuts

Just months after the IoS highlighted the crisis facing Britain's maternity services, a row has broken out over the Government's decision to axe bursaries for trainee midwives at a time when the profession is desperately short of staff.

Dame Karlene Davis, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said: "The Government's decision to scrap bursaries for trainee midwives and further limit job opportunities after they qualify, while leaving them to deal with chronic shortages across the country, multiple closures of maternity units and a rising birth rate, smacks of hypocrisy."

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The RCM estimates that 5,000 extra midwives are needed by 2012 if the Government is to meet its targets for maternity services in England. Almost half of all midwives are due to retire in the next decade. It is also calling for Gordon Brown to follow the example of the Scottish government by offering a guarantee of at least one year's paid employment for all trainee midwives in England.

Midwives are warning that the Government's refusal to match words with actions is placing an almost unbearable burden on midwives already struggling under heavy caseloads.

Births have risen by 12.5 per cent since 2001 – from 564,871 to 635,679 in 2006. The RCM says that midwife numbers have risen just 4.5 per cent since 1997 – from 18,053 to 18,862 in 2006.