My MP, Caroline Lucas submitted a written question to the Government about Midwives and on Monday a Minister responded with an answer. The Minister is Maria Caulfield who is the next door MP. My MP is based in Brighton Pavilion and Maria is the MP for Lewes. The question and answer can be seen below or it can be read on “They Work for You” website here.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Paragraph 5.60 Maternity Services in the November 2022 Autumn Statement Green Book, what his timeline is to increase the size of the NHS midwifery workforce in England by 2,000; and against what baseline will this increase be assessed.

We have a number of policies in place to increase the maternity workforce. In 2021, NHS England invested into the establishment 1,200 more midwifery posts and 100 more obstetric consultant posts. Health Education England (HEE) has been working with stakeholders towards a targeted increase of 3,650 midwifery student places by the end of 2022/23, with training leading to professional regulation. By 2021/22, we have seen a total increase of 3003 midwifery starters from the 2018/19 baseline figure. NHS England are offering funding and support to trusts to recruit an additional 300 to 500 overseas midwives over 2022/23. NHS England have provided funding to maternity services to support the recruitment of Maternity Support Workers (MSW) and to offer enhanced education support to align them with the Health Education England MSW competency, education and career development framework.

It will be interesting to see what people involved in Midwife activity are happy with this question and answer?