London

What does your job entail?
I manage six regional officers, who are responsible for the maternity services in the NHS Trusts. We try to influence NHS maternity services in the best way possible.

What are midwives asking for?
Social support within the workplace. It’s about making people feel like they’re doing a good job. It’s about training and feedback. Unfortunately, with the NHS financial crisis, these things get pushed to the wayside. We are going to be in a dire situation in five to 12 years’ time.
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What sort of dire situation?
A lot of our recruited midwives are now qualified but can’t get jobs because of NHS financial constraints. If you don’t employ those midwives straight away, you’re likely to lose them altogether. There is a big shortage of midwives at the moment, which is in danger of getting worse – 40 per cent are likely to retire in the next ten years.

What will that mean for London’s maternity services?
We don’t know yet. London’s birth rate is increasing. You may find that a lot of the services we now provide, we will be unable to provide. The classic first area to be cut is post-natal care. An important public health issue is increasing the number of women who breastfeed for longer and one way you achieve that is post-natal support.

Will women’s choices about the sort of birth they want also be reduced?
A choice of facilities isn’t a problem – there’s a budget for that. The difficulty is staff. A huge sum is spent on recruitment and retention because it’s a vicious circle. If midwives are working where there aren’t enough staff, it’s stressful. They’ll want to leave, making things worse.

What are midwives’ salaries?
Starting salaries are £18,000-£20,000. There’s the potential to earn £35,000-plus after many years – but even that’s not much in London.

What would keep people in the profession?
Pay is one thing, but flexible working systems are important. The Trusts that keep their staff support women who need to work part-time because of their family responsibilities. It’s about reducing stress. There’s nothing worse than knowing you’ve got to be somewhere else in half an hour and not having anyone to hand over to.