Maternity map: Births to midwives

25 July 2011

Map showing ration of births to midwives by region

Staff shortages mean the number of births that midwives have to deal with exceeds recommended levels in most areas of the UK, a Panorama investigation has found.

To provide a safe maternity service, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) says there should be an average midwife to birth ratio of one midwife for every 28 births.

Panorama's survey found that the average ratio in England is much higher than that - at one midwife for every 33 births.

In Wales, it is slightly higher at one to 30, while Northern Ireland meets the recommended level. In Scotland, there is an average of one midwife for just 26 births.

Use the table below to see the variations between hospital trusts and health boards from the across the nations.

Click the headings to sort the data alphabetically or numerically.

Ratio of Births to Midwives
Regions & Nations	Trusts & Health Boards	RATIO
UPDATE 12 August 2011: The midwifery staffing data relating to Aneurin Bevan Health Board has been amended. The health board provided incorrect information in its initial response to the BBC.
London	West Middlesex University Hospital	43.88
South East Coast	Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals	43.59
South West	Wiltshire PCT	43.53
South Central	Basingstoke and North Hampshire	42.44
South West	Great Western Hospitals	41.54
South Central	Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals	41.18
London	Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals	40.65
East of England	West Hertfordshire Hospitals	40.24
South West	Poole Hospital	39.6
South West	University Hospitals Bristol	39.45
East of England	Cambridge University Hospitals	38.21
East of England	Mid Essex Hospital Services	38.13
London	Imperial College Healthcare	37.86
London	Ealing Hospital	37.72
London	Whipps Cross University Hospital	37.52
London	Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals	37.44
London	Croydon Health Services	37.31
West Midlands	George Eliot Hospital	37.31
South East Coast	Surrey and Sussex Healthcare	37.08
London	South London Healthcare	36.94
West Midlands	University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire	36.85
East of England	The Princess Alexandra Hospital	36.62
West Midlands	The Dudley Group Of Hospitals	36.53
East of England	East and North Hertfordshire	36.48
Yorkshire and the Humber	Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals	36.48
South Central	Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals	36.38
East of England	Bedford Hospital	36.32
London	The Hillingdon Hospital	36.03
North West	Countess Of Chester Hospital	35.93
South Central	Royal Berkshire	35.81
London	Kingston Hospital	35.79
South Central	Buckinghamshire Healthcare	35.59
North West	Blackpool Teaching Hospitals	35.46
Yorkshire and the Humber	Harrogate and District	35.46
South East Coast	Medway	35.41
South Central	Milton Keynes Hospital	35.32
East of England	Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals	35.27
North West	Warrington and Halton Hospitals	35.27
South East Coast	Dartford and Gravesham	35.12
London	North Middlesex University Hospital	35.07
London	Homerton University Hospital	34.84
East Midlands	University Hospitals Of Leicester	34.79
Yorkshire and the Humber	Calderdale and Huddersfield	34.68
South East Coast	Frimley Park Hospital	34.54
South East Coast	Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells	34.08
East of England	Luton and Dunstable Hospital	33.98
Yorkshire and the Humber	Barnsley Hospital	33.92
West Midlands	Burton Hospitals	33.84
North West	North Cumbria University Hospitals	33.78
South East Coast	Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals	33.54
West Midlands	The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals	33.46
East of England	Hinchingbrooke Health Care	33.31
East of England	Ipswich Hospital	33.28
East of England	Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals	33.11
South West	Salisbury	32.72
North West	Southport and Ormskirk Hospital	32.72
London	Guy's and St Thomas'	32.71
North West	Salford Royal	32.6
East of England	Colchester Hospital University	32.47
West Midlands	Wye Valley	32.47
North West	Stockport	32.44
North West	St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals	32.28
West Midlands	South Warwickshire	32.24
North West	Pennine Acute Hospitals	32.23
South West	Taunton and Somerset	32.18
North West	Lancashire Teaching Hospitals	32.13
West Midlands	Walsall Hospitals	32.1
West Midlands	Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals	32.06
North West	Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh	31.99
North West	Mid Cheshire Hospitals	31.94
London	Chelsea and Westminster Hospital	31.77
South East Coast	East Kent Hospitals University	31.76
North East	South Tees Hospitals	31.76
North West	Liverpool Women's	31.51
Yorkshire and the Humber	Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals	31.41
South Central	Southampton University Hospitals	31.37
South West	North Bristol	31.33
East Midlands	Chesterfield Royal Hospital	31.15
London	Royal Free Hampstead	31.14
West Midlands	Heart Of England	31.05
London	North West London Hospitals	30.91
East Midlands	Kettering General Hospital	30.89
South West	South Devon Healthcare	30.89
West Midlands	Birmingham Women's	30.81
East Midlands	Nottingham University Hospitals	30.81
London	Newham University Hospital	30.77
North East	City Hospitals Sunderland	30.65
East of England	Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals	30.61
West Midlands	University Hospital Of North Staffordshire	30.53
North West	East Cheshire	30.33
South West	Royal Devon and Exeter	30.13
North West	Royal Bolton Hospital	29.99
Wales	Abertawe Bro Morgannwg	29.99
Wales	Cardiff & Vale	29.98
North West	Wirral University Teaching Hospital	29.95
Scotland	Lothian	29.91
East of England	James Paget University Hospitals	29.87
Northern Ireland	Southern Health and Social Care	29.85
South East Coast	Western Sussex Hospitals	29.79
East Midlands	Derby Hospitals	29.73
South Central	Portsmouth Hospitals	29.73
Scotland	Greater Glasgow and Clyde	29.73
South Central	Isle of Wight NHS PCT	29.71
South Central	Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare	29.64
Yorkshire and the Humber	Sheffield Teaching Hospitals	29.63
North East	County Durham and Darlington	29.56
West Midlands	Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital	29.49
London	St George's Healthcare	29.34
West Midlands	Worcestershire Acute Hospitals	29.08
Northern Ireland	South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust	29.04
Scotland	Grampian	28.84
North West	Central Manchester University Hospitals	28.61
North West	Tameside Hospital	28.05
Wales	Cwm Taf	27.72
East of England	West Suffolk Hospitals	27.68
North West	University Hospital Of South Manchester	27.64
South West	Yeovil District Hospital	27.62
North East	South Tyneside	27.52
Northern Ireland	Belfast Health and Social Care Trust	27.06
East Midlands	Northampton General Hospital	26.64
London	Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals	26.57
East Midlands	Sherwood Forest Hospitals	26.54
Scotland	Tayside	26.14
Northern Ireland	Western Health and Social Care	25.88
London	King's College Hospital	25.85
Wales	Betsi Cadwaladr University	25.83
West Midlands	Mid Staffordshire	25.64
North West	University Hospitals Of Morecambe Bay	25.46
Scotland	Lanarkshire	25.43
Wales	Hywel Dda	25.21
South West	Northern Devon Healthcare	25.08
Scotland	Borders	24.64
Northern Ireland	Northern Health and Social Care Trust	24.03
Scotland	Forth Valley	23.89
Yorkshire and the Humber	The Rotherham	23.86
Scotland	Ayrshire & Arran	23.69
Wales	Aneurin Bevan	23.13*
Scotland	Fife	23.09
London	The Whittington Hospital	22.03
North East	Northumbria Healthcare	21.63
Yorkshire and the Humber	Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Health Care	21.23
Scotland	Dumfries and Galloway	18.74
Scotland	Orkney	18.33
Scotland	Highland	16.11
Scotland	Shetland	13.48
Wales	Powys Teaching	11.65
South West	The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals	11.18
South West	Weston Area Health	10.4
Scotland	Western Isles	9.27

No Data Available
Regions & Nations	Trusts & Health Boards
Yorkshire and the Humber	Airedale
London	Barts and The London
Yorkshire and the Humber	Bradford Teaching Hospitals
South West	Dorset County Hospital
North West	East Lancashire Hospitals
South East Coast	East Sussex Hospitals
North East	Gateshead Health
South West	Gloucestershire Hospitals
Yorkshire and the Humber	Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals
Yorkshire and the Humber	Leeds Teaching Hospitals
Yorkshire and the Humber	Mid Yorkshire Hospitals
North East	North Tees and Hartlepool
South West	Plymouth Hospitals
South West	Royal Cornwall Hospitals
South East Coast	Royal Surrey County
East of England	Southend University Hospital
London	The Lewisham Hospital
North East	The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals
East of England	The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn
East Midlands	United Lincolnshire Hospitals
London	University College London Hospitals
Yorkshire and the Humber	York Hospitals

Download the full data

Methodology

Panorama wrote to 171 NHS Trusts and Health Boards with responsibility for maternity services.

According to the Royal College of Midwives, an adequate ratio of midwives to births impacts upon both the safety and quality of maternity care. In order to provide every woman with one-to-one care throughout labour and childbirth, the RCM recommend a minimum ratio of one midwife for every 28 births.

Figures have been calculated using the total number of births in 2010, and the number of whole-time-equivalent midwives employed at each NHS Trust or Health Board on 1 May 2011.

All figures are based on information supplied directly by NHS Trusts and Health Boards.

Ratio of Births to Midwives

No Data Available

Methodology

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