Cornwall holds vigil to support midwives amid nationwide staff shortages and burnout
A March With Midwives event is taking place outside Truro Cathedral on Sunday 21st November
Last updated 21st Nov 2021
A doula in Cornwall has told us midwifery across the UK is in crisis, as the nation holds vigils of support.
March With Midwives events are being staged in cities around the country to highlight staff shortages and burnout, including in Truro.
A recent survey by the Royal College of Midwives found 60% of midwives had thought about leaving the profession due to stress.
There are concerns about safety too, as figures suggest 41% of departments in the UK have been rated inadequate or requires improvement.
Organisers of March With Midwives are calling on ministers to take urgent measures to ease the pressure.
"Really, midwifery across the UK is in absolute crisis"
Through her work as a doula, Duchy mum Hanna Holcroft has supported many women who have delivered babies at Treliske and other units.
She said she is marching as a mother and a doula: "I'm marching to take part in the letting the government know how we feel about the current situation with midwifery across the UK.
"It's really important to me because I'm a mum and I'm a mother of daughters. If they choose to have children at some point in the future then I want them to be able to access a midwifery service that is safe and well-managed.
"The Better Birth statistics that have recently been put together and recorded show that currently, at the moment, for every 30 midwives who are finishing their training in the UK, 29 midwives are leaving the midwifery service.
"Midwives are leaving in their droves and they're leaving because they feel that they are not able to undertake their jobs safely and they cannot provide a service to mothers and birthing people and their babies.
"Midwives are stressed and they're exhausted, they're understaffed, they're working 14+ hour shifts with no breaks. No breaks for the toilet, no breaks for food. I feel really passionately that this is a travesty because who else would we expect to work in this way, especially when they're undertaking such a powerfully important job".
She added that midwives are not the only ones suffering: "Pregnant women are suffering, pregnant people are suffering and the babies that these people are pregnant with, they're potentially being born into midwifery units that are chronically understaffed and chronically underfunded and it's not acceptable".
Hanna went on to say that the government needs to make changes to reflect the value of hardworking midwives: "We need them to look at funding it appropriately and raising payments for midwives so that they're actually receiving pay and salary that reflects their value to society; their work is absolutely vital".
For Cornwall's March With Midwives event, supporters will gather outside Truro Cathedral at 2pm on Sunday 21st November and more information can be found on the event page.