Women need us but we need jobs, say new midwives
BBCIn the centre of Birmingham, a group of student midwives gather with placards, petitions and a shared sense of urgency.
Their message: The UK is facing a maternity staffing crisis, yet newly trained midwives cannot find jobs.
The movement is called Fund Future Midwives UK (FFMUK) and it is a student-led campaign demanding urgent government action to provide fair bursaries and create jobs for newly qualified midwives.
Founded by Safia Saad, it began as a protest in London before gaining traction nationwide.
With thousands of petition signatures and a growing social media presence, the campaign is calling on the government to address what its members see as a systemic failure.
Among the protesters is Kell McDermott, 34, a third-year student midwife at the University of Worcester and FFMUK social media manager.
She highlights a problem many student midwives are currently facing - there are not nearly enough jobs for those like herself who are about to qualify.
"We are getting our voices out there, trying to make ourselves heard," she said during the protest on Tuesday.
"There is currently only three jobs in the entire UK for Band 5 midwives and we're all going to be qualifying this summer, amongst hundreds of other student midwives across the country.
"All we want is the government to listen and understand that the staffing crisis can be solved with more student midwives getting jobs at the end of their degrees."
Under the current system, newly qualified midwives must enter the NHS at Band 5 level and complete a preceptorship which is an essential period of supported practice to become a Band 6 midwife.
Without available roles, graduates face a professional dead end.
'We want to serve'
Clare Angel, 53, is a final-year student midwife at the University of Worcester and she expects to graduate in about eight weeks with no job secured.
Her journey into midwifery shows the level of commitment among these students. After nearly 30 years in banking, she retrained to work in a role focused on care and supporting women.
"For me, it’s about advocating for women. Women have a choice and women have a voice," she explained. "They need one-to-one care, they deserve one-to-one care."
Angel said: "We are in an environment where there is a maternity crisis in the UK and central to every report that's coming out is that maternity services are understaffed.
"We are NHS-trained. We have been trained within the NHS for the last three years. We want to serve. NHS trusts want to recruit us, they just don't have the money to do so."
She added: "That's why we are out here today. To ask the government, to ask Wes Streeting to look at the budgets, to look at how much money is going into the NHS and to signpost and earmark money specifically to recruit newly qualifies midwives into these roles so we can help maternity services reform and repair itself from within."
The students repeatedly pointed to a wider maternity crisis in the UK, referenced in a national review set up by health secretary Wes Streeting.
Baroness Amos, who chaired the review into maternity care, said that what she has seen so far "has been much worse" than she'd anticipated.
The report found that maternity services in England are failing "too many" families, with problems "at every stage" of the maternity journey with racism and "poor" staff relationships factoring in.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has promised to act on her final recommendations, which will be published in June.
The Department of Health and Social Care have been approached for comment.
The students' signs capture the issue in just a few words: 'Women need midwives, and midwives need women.'
Sophie Saddington, 20, also a third-year student, emphasised the scale of the problem. After completing thousands of hours of clinical training, many graduates are left without clear next steps.
"We go to uni, we do the training. It's three years, it's hard. Straight from A-levels I came into this, I moved away. And I think to get to the end of the degree and there's no jobs coming out, it's so hard.
"It's hard knowing what to do next, do you move back home?"
Despite frustration, the tone of the campaign remains grounded in commitment rather than protest alone. Again and again, the students return to a central message about purpose.
"We are ready to serve," Angel said. "We just want the opportunity to do so."
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