New midwives told 'no jobs' despite major NHS shortage
After years of training to be there for women, student midwives claim they are facing the reality of being unemployed in Britain
A trainee midwife has said there will be "no jobs" available for her and her classmates when she graduates - despite a national shortage. Safia Saad is just three months from finishing her midwifery degree at King's College London, but says her cohort have been told there are no jobs available at the university's associated NHS trust.
She said the situation is similar at NHS trusts across the country - despite being told, when they enrolled in 2023, they were "guaranteed" jobs. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) reported in February that 31% of last year's midwifery graduates have not found a midwifery job - despite a national shortage of around 2,500 midwives.
The RCM said there is currently a "disconnect" between midwives in education and "secure and sustainable" roles due to financial constraints and NHS recruitment freezes. Safia founded the Fund Future Midwives campaign group to actively protest for sustainable employment for the thousands of midwives graduating from university.
The 27 year old said: "We're beyond maternity crisis, and it’s going to become worse. I don’t even want to envisage what it looks like. I’m three months away from qualifying, and there’s no job for me.
"It’s really disheartening, I’m feeling really, really deflated, upset and frustrated. The degree has been very intense. You spend half of your time at university and [the other half] of your time on placement – the NHS stopped funding the course in 2017 in England, so you’re doing 2,300 hours of unpaid work."
Safia claims to have taken out £60,000 of student loans to cover the cost of the degree. She said: "Most student midwives graduate with around £40,000 worth of student debt, so we’re essentially paying to work.
"Those are sacrifices you know going into the degree. What we didn’t know going into it was that there wasn’t going to be a job for us. We were told it was a guaranteed job, your three years is your interview, so it’s really frustrating.”
Safia says midwifery was always her "dream" job, and claims she felt she could "do better to advocate for women and families as a midwife". She told Talk to the Press: "My mum came to this country and had amazing midwifery care with me. She was really unwell, and I’ve always heard that even though my birth was traumatic, she remembers how amazing the midwives were and how they cared for her.
"She also experienced not-so-good care with my younger sister. She remembers that it was because of short-staffing – the midwife was looking after her and three other women in labour."
Safia started the Fund Future Midwives UK campaign to fight for fair bursaries, funded tuition and job opportunities for student midwives. The campaign has organised several protests and is seeking an explanation for the dramatic decrease in funding for the profession in recent years.
They are also campaigning for higher employment rates to help address the burnout crisis in the profession, with the RCM reporting that midwives contribute 100,000 hours of free labour to NHS England every week. Maternity care spending was increased by £95m in 2021 to help improve safety, but changes by the Department of Health this year mean that just £2m of that funding is ring-fenced for maternity.
When approached for comment, a King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: "We value the vital work of our midwives, and also support newly qualified midwives to build their careers in the NHS."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "No one who dedicates themselves to a career in midwifery should be left in limbo, when their skills are so urgently needed to support patients and rebuild our NHS. Through the Graduate Guarantee scheme, backed by £8 million in funding, this government has delivered 700 additional roles for newly qualified midwives on top of existing recruitment initiatives.
"We now have over 25,000 full-time equivalent midwives working in the NHS, but we know there can be a mismatch between where and when jobs are available and where students qualify. That’s why our 10 Year Workforce plan will make sure the health service has the right people in the right place at the right time."
