A little while ago we posted about an e-petition from The Royal College of Midwives calling for 5,000 more midwives. The petition closed today (22nd August 2012) at 11:53am with a staggering 75,723 in support of the Government taking action to recruit more midwives.
Although not the 100,000 signatures RCM was calling for, the petition has still been a huge success, gaining support from celebrities and MPs from the three main political parties.
North East Labour MP Grahame Morris, a member of the House of Commons Health Select Committee, said: ‘The shortage of midwives affects every region in England. We need urgent action from government, which includes honouring their commitment to recruit the equivalent of 5000 more full-time midwives.
‘Care for women but especially for babies at the very start of life should be a top priority for NHS resources rather than expanding specialist fee paying services overseas.’
Henry Smith, Conservative MP for Crawley, said: ‘The fact that so many people have signed this petition to protect maternity services underlines just how vitally important this issue is. I am happy to say here and now that I will continue to raise the issue of midwife numbers in parliament.’
Andrew George, Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, added: ‘Inadequate staff-to-patient ratios puts patient safety at risk, not least in midwifery where good quality maternity care is paramount.‘That so many people have registered their support for the campaign to make sure that we have safe levels of clinically qualified midwives in our hospitals and in the community speaks volumes.
Read more about this at RCM’s Midwives Magazine.
You can also read our original post about the e-petition here.
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