A Public Accounts Committee report has concluded that a shortfall in the number of trained midwives and a lack of funding has risked the safety of pregnant women. MPs on the committee said they had gathered evidence that “many maternity services are running at a loss, or at best breaking even, and that the available funding may be insufficient for trusts to employ enough midwives and consultants to provide high quality, safe care”. The report found that more han a quarter of maternity units had to close to new patients for half a day or more between April and September 2012, with one of the reasons being a lack of midwives.
