'We just want to work' New midwives struggling with recruitment freezes

A student midwife who fears she will be unable to get a job after completing 2,300 hours of unpaid placement work in the NHS is calling for guaranteed posts for newly qualified midwives who otherwise will be forced to abandon the profession before their careers begin.

- Harriet Sherwood

Aimee Peach, 43, is due to complete her training next summer but said the promise of a job at the end of her three-year degree course had "collapsed" despite the severe shortages of midwives across the country. "It is a waste of talent, training and public money, and the consequences will be felt by families across the country," she said. "There are so many of us who just want to work as midwives after three years of gruelling training, but we're having to face the fact that after all this there may be only a handful of jobs available."

Last month, a survey by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) found eight out of 10 student midwives due to qualify this year were not confident of finding a job after graduating, despite understaffing in maternity care.

Some services have had to close temporarily because of unsafe levels of staffing. According to the RCM, funding cuts and recruitment freezes have tied the hands of midwifery managers who are desperate to hire staff.