Better outcomes for women in RCM manifesto

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has launched its manifesto for the upcoming UK General Election, emphasising better outcomes for pregnant women in its priorities.

The RCM stresses that having too few midwives makes it harder to ensure that women have better continuity in the midwives they see throughout and after their pregnancy, possibly undermine care and outcomes.

Additionally, the college warns that the NHS in England is short of around 3,500 midwives, with the number of midwives rising by only 79 last year, representing less than half an extra midwife per maternity unit per year. The manifesto argues that shortages have consequences, and improvements in the quality and safety of maternity care is dependent upon eliminating the shortage.

Moreover, there are around 1,300 midwives from other EU countries working in the NHS in England, and the RCM urges the government to act immediately to secure the right of these midwives to remain in the UK post-Brexit.

Finally, the issue of fair pay for NHS midwives and maternity support workers is a priority. If their pay had risen at the rate of inflation since 2010 midwives would today earn £6,000 more than they actually do. The manifesto calls for the NHS Pay Review Body to be allowed to make recommendations on pay without interference from the government, and that government should honour those recommendations.

Cathy Warwick, chief executive officer of the RCM, said: ‘We are calling on the government in power after the election to invest in the NHS, invest in maternity services and invest in midwives and maternity support workers. Services need to be given the resources to meet the demands they are facing. At the moment this is not the case and the safety and quality of care that many women receive is simply not good enough.

“We have also seen pay freezes and pay restraint that means our midwives and other NHS staff are significantly worse off, indeed have effectively had a £6000 pay cut. Investing in staff is an investment in the NHS and an investment in patient care.”