Around 200 people gathered close to York Minster this afternoon (Sunday) to voice their support for midwives.
They gathered for March With Midwives – one of a series of events up and down the country highlighting the pressures on hospital maternity services.
In the end they didn’t march because it was so busy in town.
One of the speakers was York Central MP Rachael Maskell. “Today is about women. And it’s about women’s health, and the importance of women’s health,” she said.
“For too long, women have been at the bottom of the pile of priorities, we have seen women’s care being sidelined and pushed into a corner.
“And therefore we need to look after our midwives, they cannot burn out under the stress and the pressures that they’re facing. So we need people to step forward into midwifery, which means we need a workforce plan.
“That means we need a plan for our future. And of course, that’s the one thing which is missing.”
Trauma and burnout
Two of the midwives, Hannah and Rachel, told YorkMix why they were taking part.
“We’re here to raise awareness of the staffing crisis in maternity. We can’t really continue the way we’re going without any additional help,” Rachel said.
“There was a recent study that found that 57% of NHS midwives are planning on leaving the profession within the next year. That’s due to just the immense work pressures, workplace stress, trauma, burnout, midwives leaving with depression and anxiety,” said Hannah.
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“These women and their families deserve the best care we can possibly give. But unfortunately, due to numbers being depleted, morale being so low, trauma levels being so high, we don’t feel that we can safely do that.”
Morale was at rock bottom said Rachel. “Every day you come into work see midwives crying and everybody struggling and knowing that they’re short staffed.
“You’re working 24 hours a day sometimes – especially community staff. And hospital staff are putting in extra hours working well past their hours that they should be working.”
A petition has been launched: Support urgent government investment into maternity services to solve the staffing crisis.
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