[guide.chat] news baby boom midwives cannot cope with highest birth rate

From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2013 14:42:44 -0000

Highest birth rate in 40 years and a shortage of midwives pushes maternity
services to 'crucial tipping point'
Royal College of Midwives warns of massive shortage in parts of UK
5,000 midwives needed in England alone to cope with demand
UK witnessing highest birth rate in 40 years, as hospitals struggle to cope
By JAMES RUSH
PUBLISHED: 10:46, 20 January 2013 | UPDATED: 10:47, 20 January 2013

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, has warned
England alone needs an extra 5,000 midwives
Maternity services have been pushed to a 'crucial tipping point' after a baby
boom in the last few years has seen the number of births rise 50 per cent in
some areas of the UK.
The Royal College of Midwives has warned there is a massive shortage of
midwives in parts of the country as hospitals struggle to cope after being put
under intense strain.
In a report to be published in parliament on Tuesday, the RCM warned an extra
5,000 midwives were needed in England alone to deal with the highest birth rate
in 40 years.
And the shortage has forced some NHS maternity hospitals to close their doors
and temporarily turn women away who are about to give birth, according to a
report in The Sunday Times.
The RCM is calling on the Government to provide a guarantee not to cut midwife
training places.
Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the RCM, said: 'England remains around 5,000
midwives short of the number required to provide mothers and babies with
high-quality service they need and deserve.
'Maternity care is the earliest health intervention of all and getting care
right for mothers and babies is a vital part of supporting families and
building a foundation for good health in later life.'
She said that while more midwives are being employed in England and the
availability of training is on the rise, efforts need to be redoubled because
of the baby boom and the relentless rise in the numbers being born.
'A corner is being turned, but this is no time for backsliding from the
Government,' she said.
'Maternity units are under intense strain and have been now for many years,
with many midwives really at the end of their tether in terms of what they can
tolerate.

'We are reaching a crucial tipping point for maternity services in England.'
Each of the four parts of the UK has experienced a rise in the number of births
in the last decade - 22 per cent in England, 17 per cent in Wales, 15 per cent
in Northern Ireland and 12 per cent in Scotland.
The RCM said England and Wales had been 'overwhelmed' by the rising birth rate,
but while midwife numbers were increasing a little, the strain on numbers has
led to antenatal care of expectant mothers becoming 'threadbare'.

Maternity services have been pushed to a 'crucial tipping point' following the
baby boom in the last few years, the RCM has warned
There are also concerns about an ageing number of midwives, with too few
following in their footsteps.
Jon Skewes, a director at the RCM, said: 'We are concerned that our members are
so stretched and that in some circumstances units have been forced to close on
a temporary basis to ensure safety.'
The RCM says it would like to see more midwife-led units and more home births
to reduce the shortage of midwives, the appropriate deployment of properly
trained and supervised maternity support workers and a guarantee from the
Government not to cut midwife training places.
The State of Maternity Services report showed that in 2011 there were 688,120
babies born in England, the highest number since 1971.

The RCM said while midwife numbers were increasing a little, the strain on
numbers has led to antenatal care of expectant mothers becoming 'threadbare'
Provisional birth numbers from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the
first half of last year point to 2012 being another record-breaking year for
births.
The ONS forecasts that births in England could reach 743,000 by 2014.
The number of babies born in some 'baby boom hotspots' of England has jumped
more than 50 per cent in recent years, according to an RCM analysis of ONS
statistics.
The fastest-growing number of births was found in Corby, Northamptonshire,
where births jumped 63 per cent between 2002 and 2011. That is almost three
times faster than the England-wide rise of 21.6 per cent.
Other baby boom hotspots include Bournemouth, where births rose by 54.1 per
cent, Boston in Lincolnshire (53.5 per cent), the London borough of Barking and
Dagenham (53.5 per cent), Slough (50.4 per cent), Norwich (48.7 per cent),
Peterborough (45.6 per cent), Watford (43.7 per cent), Southampton (42.9 per
cent) and Bristol (42.7 per cent).
The figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland seem to have plateaued,
the RCM said.
There is also an increase in the number of older mothers giving birth in
England.
The number of babies born each year to women aged 40 or above jumped by more
than 80 per cent between 2001 and 2011. In 2011, 29,350 babies were born to
women in that age group, the highest since 1948.
The number of babies born to women aged 30-34 was the highest since records
began in 1938.
The report said: 'Older mothers place greater demands on maternity services,
with a greater likelihood of complications and the need for medical
intervention.'
In contrast, since the start of the baby boom the number of babies born to
girls and women under 20 has fallen dramatically, by 18 per cent - fewer than
in any year since 1955.
The RCM also warned that an increasingly ageing workforce of midwives would
cause an even greater strain on services over the next 15 years.
Professor Warwick said: 'The midwifery profession is markedly older than it was
a few years ago too, with many more midwives closer to retirement.
'We desperately need more midwives to reinvigorate the profession. Ten years
ago, only a third of midwives were aged 45 or over. In 2011, around half were
in that age group.
'The number of midwives aged 65 or above has risen more than nine-fold, from 13
to 122. We need to train more midwives and make absolutely sure that those who
qualify get jobs without delay.'

Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2265336/Highest-birth-rate-40-years-shortage-midwives-pushes-maternity-services-crucial-tipping-point.html#ixzz2IWilZMki

[guide.chat] news baby boom midwives cannot cope with highest birth rate

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