A deepening crisis in NHS maternity services has sparked growing concern among healthcare students, with thousands of aspiring midwives facing an uncertain future despite completing extensive training and placement work. The grim reality of underfunded and understaffed wards is now being matched by an alarming lack of maternity job opportunities for those ready to step into vital roles.
Among them is Aimee Peach, a 43-year-old student midwife from Bridgwater, Somerset, who is set to complete her training next summer after undertaking 2,300 hours of unpaid placement work, including grueling 12-hour shifts and commutes of over 80 miles. Despite the intense demands, she now fears that her hard-won qualification may not lead to employment.
“It is a waste of talent, training and public money, and the consequences will be felt by families across the country,” Peach warned. “There are so many of us that just want to work as NHS midwives after three years of gruelling training, but we’re having to face the fact that, after all this, there may be only a handful of jobs available.”
Her concerns are echoed across the country. According to a recent survey by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), eight in ten student midwives due to qualify in 2025 do not believe they will find a job post-graduation — a sobering statistic that reflects systemic funding shortfalls and a recruitment freeze across NHS trusts.
Despite persistent national headlines about staffing crises and the closure of maternity services due to unsafe conditions, newly qualified professionals like Peach are finding the job market barren. A recent search for Band 5 midwifery roles revealed only four vacancies across all of England — while the RCM estimates that over 2,500 additional midwives are needed to safely staff the service.
Fiona Gibb, Director of Midwifery at the RCM, highlighted the contradiction: “Report after report cites understaffing as a factor in the delivery of safe care, and midwives consistently share with us that there are too few of them to deliver the best care they know they can. Despite this, midwifery graduates face uncertainty, with too few vacancies for them to begin work upon qualification.”
For Peach, the dream of becoming a midwife was born out of a desire to improve the experience of pregnancy and childbirth for women across the country. But without guaranteed employment, she says, many of her peers are questioning whether their years of unpaid labour, academic sacrifice, and family compromise were worth it.
“No one chooses midwifery to have a comfortable job – you have to have a passion for it,” she said. “That passion helped me through those night shifts and long drives. But after all this, we now face the scary prospect that we might not get jobs.”
Earlier this month, she contacted her MP, Ashley Fox, calling for urgent intervention. Her proposals include guaranteed NHS positions for all newly qualified midwives, increased funding for maternity services, and cancellation of student debt for healthcare workers who serve five years in the NHS.
In response, Fox stated that he would seek to raise the matter in Parliament. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Social Care acknowledged the gravity of the issue. “Student nurses and midwives like Aimee are our future workforce and it is unacceptable that they are unable to find roles,” a spokesperson said.
Efforts are reportedly underway, with NHS England initiating a dedicated programme involving employers, educational institutions, and representative bodies to address the problem. A revised NHS workforce plan, due later this year, is expected to outline clearer steps to ensure the system is equipped with the right people, in the right place, at the right time.
Yet concerns persist. Gibb and the RCM have issued a strong appeal to government departments across the UK to suspend the ongoing recruitment freezes and re-evaluate their UK workforce planning models. “Having enough midwives, in the right places, with the right skills and training is fundamental to the safety improvements that are desperately needed across maternity services,” she added.
The ongoing frustration is clear. While the NHS openly acknowledges the shortage of midwives, the same system is failing to absorb those who are qualified, willing, and ready. As Peach and countless others reach the end of their training, the gap between aspiration and opportunity continues to widen.
