From the MP for Bath: Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, met with frontline NHS midwives in Parliament (January 20th) at an event hosted by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) focused on the urgent need for safe staffing in maternity services.
The event brought midwives from across the country to Parliament to meet with MPs and discuss the growing pressures facing maternity services.
Speaking to Mrs Hobhouse, midwives described the daily reality of working in understaffed services, with chronic shortages putting women, babies and staff at risk. Recent RCM data shows that 45% of midwives report feeling burnt out often or always, while only 16% believe there are enough staff to do their job properly. Midwives are estimated to work around 100,000 unpaid hours every week to keep maternity services running, and 87% say their units are not safely staffed.
The RCM used the parliamentary event to launch its Safe Staffing = Safe Care, calling on Government to:
- Deliver safe staffing through dedicated, multi-year funding via a national maternity and neonatal action plan to end chronic understaffing in hospital and community settings.
- Protect a learning profession by providing midwives and maternity support workers with 52 hours of protected, salaried time to supervise students and complete essential continuing professional development.
- Amplify midwives’ voices by mandating a Director of Midwifery in every Trust and ensuring sufficient consultant midwives are in post as a non-negotiable standard.
- Improve health and prevention by funding protected time for midwives and MSWs to develop cultural competence and deliver safe, equitable care for every mother and birthing person.
- Invest in workplaces and birthplaces by prioritising poor maternity estates for urgent improvement through ring-fenced capital funding.
The campaign comes amid fresh concerns about the maternity workforce. New figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council show that while the number of midwives on the register has reached a record 47,481, growth has slowed to just 1.9%, with international recruitment almost halving and more midwives leaving the profession.
While national pressures remain severe, examples of high-quality care show what can be achieved when maternity teams are supported. In Bath, the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust was recently recognised in the Care Quality Commission’s 2025 Maternity Survey for improvements in postnatal care, with women reporting they felt “listened to, respected and supported”. The Trust performed better than most hospitals in England across 28 key measures, including antenatal support, communication, teamwork and mental health care during pregnancy.
Speaking after the event, Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said:
“It was invaluable to hear directly from midwives about the pressures they are facing and the impact this has on women and families. We know that safe staffing is fundamental to safe care.
“The positive results at Bath’s RUH show what dedicated maternity teams can achieve, but they also underline the need for sustained investment and proper staffing so that high-quality care is the norm everywhere, not the exception.”
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