NUMBER OF MIDWIVES IN THE NHS

That this House recognises the extreme concern at the inadequate number of midwives in the NHS and the increased number of injuries and deaths caused by the low number of midwives; and calls on the Government to increase the number of midwives to be trained in 2007 and 2008 by 5,000, to remove the freeze on the hiring of NHS midwives, and to provide the necessary resources for heads of midwifery, so that they can significantly increase the numbers of experienced midwives in their maternity units, provide one midwife per mother for the whole of labour and provide every pregnant mother with a named midwife and an acceptable level of midwifery contact for care during pregnancy and post natal care.