Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he is satisfied with the current levels of recruitment to midwifery; and what steps he is taking to encourage recruitment of midwives.

Health Education England are working with NHS England to ensure that sufficient midwives and other maternity staff are trained and available to provide every woman with personalised one-to-one care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and during the post natal period.

Since June 2012 there are over 6,000 more midwives in training to qualify over the next three years. The latest figures show there are 21,888 qualified midwives (full time equivalent) working in the NHS in England.

It is the responsibility of local NHS organisations to assess the health needs of their local communities and ensure they have the right staff, with the rights skills to deliver high quality and safe care.