Released on: 18 November 2021
In response to a growing crisis in the provision of maternity services, Angela McConville, Chief Executive, NCT, said:
‘The NCT community would like to express our strongly felt empathy and solidarity with midwives, as voices are raised to bring their situation to the attention of politicians and policy-makers. We believe there is a crisis in the provision of maternity services that needs immediate and imperative action.
‘As a charity providing support through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood, our first concern is for the safety and wellbeing of pregnant women, new parents, partners and their babies. We are profoundly aware that the individualised, evidence-based care that parents and babies need comes from positive, motivated and well-led midwives, not those exhausted and demoralised by understaffing and fears that they can’t deliver safe care.
‘The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has warned of a ‘midwife exodus’ and that burnout among midwives and all maternity staff is higher than ever. Our call for action is for significant investment in midwifery at every stage of training and development, including recruitment, clinical and career support, and retention in the workforce. In addition to those working on the frontline, midwives in education, research and management hold hugely important roles, key to the provision of high quality practice, now and in the future. This whole profession must be recognised, valued and respected to ensure safe and personalised care for women and babies’.
‘March with Midwives’ takes place on Sunday 21 November in locations across the UK. Members of the NCT community may be attending in a personal capacity and we ask everyone attending to be considerate of ongoing risks from Covid-19 and of service users if gatherings are held near to hospitals or maternity units.
