Royal College of Midwives attacks BNP maternity claims

17 June, 2009

The Royal College of Midwives has hit out at claims by the BNP that it blames immigration for increased pressure on maternity services.

An article on the BNP website said: ‘According to a survey by the Royal College of Midwives issued in 2008, the quality of NHS care has plummeted because ministers failed to predict a massive rise in the birth rate among immigrant mothers.’

According to the article, ‘several maternity wards at NHS hospitals in areas which serve largely white areas of the country, have been forced to shut their doors for months at a time because staff were needed elsewhere to deliver babies from foreign-born mothers in immigrant-dense areas.’

But the RCM denied that it considered immigration to be a problem.

General secretary Cathy Warwick pointed out that many midwives were born outside of the UK and without them, NHS maternity care would be ‘on its knees’.

Instead, Ms Warwick said the pressure on maternity units was caused by increasing fertility rates in older women.
Ms Warwick said: ‘We have seen an almost 50 percent rise in the fertility rate for women aged 40 or over, for example, and these women place more demands on the service than younger women. ‘Every year, the amount of medical intervention in maternity care increases and the number of babies delivered by caesarean section rises, both of which place extra demands on those providing maternity care.

‘The growing complexity and quality of maternity care are therefore the main reasons why pressures on the service are growing.

‘Thankfully, all mainstream parties recognise this and there is cross-party support for more resources for maternity care to deliver the first-class service we all want. That is the approach that responsible political parties should be taking, not scapegoating foreign-born mothers for a failure to invest in more midwives and better facilities and choice for all women.’

Readers' comments (5)

Anonymous | 19-Jun-2009 8:36 am
Fisrt of all when we say immigrants...meaning they have all the same rights of a British citizen...So what the fuss all about? Theres nothing wrong with immigration, the BNP is rubbish..they will never rule our govenrment...they are just a bunch of "trying hard" politicians with irrelevant, self proclaiming policies.
Ignore the BNP...they dont need much attention... BNP is nonsense; irrelevant and ignorant... go to hell.
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Anonymous | 22-Jun-2009 7:30 am
Yet another example of the BNP using cheap sensationalist tactics in order to "promote" their so-called political party. It doesn't wash I'm afraid.
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Anonymous | 27-Jun-2009 3:05 am
THE BNP ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES TO USE 'SENSATIONALIST TACTICS' TO PROMOTE THEIR POLITICAL IDEOLOGY.

General secretary Cathy Warwick pointed out that many midwives were born outside of the UK and without them, NHS maternity care would be ‘on its knees’.

THIS IS COMPLETE AND UTTER RUBBISH. YES THERE ARE PLENTY OF NURSES AND MIDWIVES FROM OUTSIDE THE UK, AND THEY DO AN OUTSTANDING JOB HERE AND ARE ALWAYS WELCOME. BUT THE NHS WOULD NOT BE 'ON ITS KNEES' WITHOUT THEM. THERE ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH ENGLISH NURSES AND MIDWIVES TO FILL THE GAP! JUST LOOK AT HOW MANY ARE STRUGGLING TO FIND WORK AT THE MOMENT!
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Anonymous | 27-Jun-2009 3:07 am
To the first poster, you are talking about immigrants having the same rights as a British Citizen.

That is the problem.
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Anonymous | 5-Jul-2009 6:18 pm
To the second poster: I like to think that Scottish, Welsh and Irish midwives contribute to British Midwifery services ;-)

Immigration does put a strain on services, because further services haven't been put in place to enable us to provide adequate care. However, this is not the fault of immegrants, it is the fault of the government, so what exactly is the BNPs point? (assuming anyone this side of the milleneum cares or listens to what they have to say!)
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