More Midwives Resolution

WI members call for more midwives

96% of delegates at the National Federation of Women's Institutes' AGM in London on 30th May 2012 voted to support a resolution calling for the Government to invest in the employment of more of midwives.

The resolution "There are chronic shortages of midwives. The NFWI calls on the Government to increase investment in the training, employment and retention of midwives in England and Wales to ensure services are adequately resourced and are able to deliver a high standard of care" will now become the campaigning focus for over 210,000 WI members across England, Wales and the Islands.

Ruth Bond, Chair of the NFWI, said:

"This was one of the most popular resolutions we have had for many years ahead of the AGM and as an issue that touches so many women across the world; it is of little surprise that so many members are so passionate about it. Despite welcome commitments from the Government to overhaul maternity services, the number of midwives is not keeping pace with the scale of the baby boom, resulting in an intolerable and unsustainable strain on the system.

"WI members recognise that midwives play a critical role in ensuring a mother's experience of birth is as good as it can be and in giving families the best possible start. The Government's recent pledge to ensure that every woman has one-to-one midwife care during labour and birth will go a long way to ensuring women get the care they need, yet the ongoing baby boom means that more midwives will be needed to meet higher care standards. WI members will now be calling for more action to ensure maternity services are adequately resourced in order to maintain the UK's safe child birth record and give families the best possible start.

"As the main campaigning focus for the year to come, the weight of over 210,000 WI members will be behind our calls for more training, employment and retention to ensure that women and their babies will continue to be supported by midwife services across the UK."

WI members also attempted to knit their way into the Guinness Book of World Records during the meeting by breaking the record for the most people knitting simultaneously to celebrate traditional craft skills. The record attempt was undertaken with support from the Crafts Council and the UK Handknitting Association to commemorate the Crafts Club initiative.