Midwives report maternity services ‘starting to buckle’
SCOTLAND’S maternity services are coming under increasing pressure from high birth rates, an ageing workforce and complex births as a result of older or obese mothers, a report said.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) annual report on maternity services in the UK found while Scottish services are very good, there are signs they are “beginning to buckle as demand rises”.
Despite a recent dip, birth rates remain, with the number of births in 2016 matching 2006 levels and up on the number at the start of the century.
The report also found births are increasingly complex, with a rise in obesity levels for expectant mothers. More than a fifth of pregnant women are obese, which can lead to complications and require extra care.
The increasing number of older mothers is also concern, the RCM said. Births to women in their late 30s are up more than 2,000 since 2000, while births to women aged 40 or older are up by around 1,000. For women aged 45 or older, the number of births rose from 29 to 143 between 2000 and 2015.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s midwifery workforce is ageing, the report found.
Midwives aged 50 or over now make up 41 per cent of the total, the highest proportion in the UK, while the number of younger midwives is falling. Increases in student midwife numbers go some way to offsetting this, but more is needed, the RCM said.
RCM Scotland director Mary Ross-Davie said: “We have to stop Scotland facing the shortage of midwives that has blighted England for over a decade. We will do this by ensuring all those midwives heading for retirement are replaced in good time. This needs careful planning, but it needs doing now.”
Scottish Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: “This is the clearest warning sign yet from Scotland’s midwives about the growing pressure and the demographic time bomb the profession faces.”