Midwives rally to the cause and demand better for workers in mass London protest

on 17 June 2022 RCM Maternity Services Maternity Safety Government England Trade Unions NHS Unions TUC Midwifery Workforce Midwife Shortage MSWs - Maternity Support Workers Pay

London will be alive to the sound of midwives, maternity support workers (MSW) and student midwives tomorrow as members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) join thousands of other workers in a mass TUC rally in London.

Hundreds of midwives and MSWs will be joining the TUC’s call for better pay, and more support for working people as prices rise and the cost-of-living rockets, biting hard into the finances of workers and their families.

The RCM will also be highlighting the longstanding and chronic midwife staffing shortages in the NHS. England is 2000 midwives short of the numbers needed, and this is worsening every month. 

Gill Walton, the Chief Executive of the RCM will be one of the keynote speakers at the rally.  She will be driving home the message about the impact that staffing shortages, under investment and pay rapidly falling behind the real cost of living is having on maternity services and its staff.

Suzanne Tyler, Executive Director, Trade Union at the RCM and a member of the TUC General Council, said: “We have got to make the Government listen to the impact their policies and intransigence are having on our members, on other working people across this country, and on the services they provide. Maternity services are in crisis with rising demands and without the staffing and resources to meet them. Its staff are fragile, overwhelmed and deeply demoralised and many are choosing to leave the NHS because they cannot deliver the safe and high-quality care they want to.

“Just yesterday we had a letter from a midwife, an RCM steward, highlighting the terrible situation in her maternity services, and across her region, which she described as ‘dire and a ‘ticking time bomb’. Hers was one desperate voice, but we know that there are thousands and thousands more across the country feeling the same. The Government must listen to them because their selfless dedication to keep services safe cannot be sustained. We must see this government step up significantly its investment in maternity services, in its staff, and give them the inflation busting pay rise they need and deserve. This is why we are joining the TUC rally tomorrow to demand better for maternity services, for midwives, and MSWs, and for all workers.”

ENDS

To contact the RCM Media Office call 020 7312 3456, or email media@rcm.org.uk. 

Notes to Editors

Fort more information on the TUC rally on 18 June 2022 in London visit We demand better: March and Rally, 18 June | TUC.

See also RCM warns of midwife exodus as maternity staffing crisis grows.

See also Midwife numbers now lower than at the last general election says RCM.

See also ‘Improving pay part of solution to recruitment and retention crisis,’ RCM tells Pay Review Body and Four out of five NHS staff say pay is main reason they would quit their jobs (rcm.org.uk).

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team.  We provide workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance, and information, and learning opportunities with our broad range of events, conferences, and online resources. For more information visit the RCM | A professional organisation and trade union dedicated to serving the whole midwifery team.