North Cumbria Integrated Care are looking to increase the number of midwives in the Trust's hospitals.
In the longer term, we are scaling up our approach to grow and retain our own midwives here in north Cumbria.
A spokesperson from the Trust said: "Since November 2021 we have secured 5 new midwives and there are exciting plans in place to increase the number of midwives working in the region going forward.
"We are actively engaged with the international recruitment of midwives with a plan to recruit 12 midwives to the service from overseas. The first 3 midwives have been recruited and it is anticipated that they will join the Trust in June."
However, the Trust had fewer midwives in December than it did a year earlier, according to new figures.
The Royal College of Midwives has accused the Government of doing “far too little” to prevent what it calls a recruitment and retention crisis in the profession across England.
NHS Digital figures show the equivalent of 108 full-time midwives were working at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust in December 2021, 8 fewer than 116 at the same point in 2020. In 2019 there were the equivalent of 117.9 full-time midwives working for the trust.
Gill Walton, chief executive of the RCM, a trade union for midwives, said: "England is still more than 2,000 midwives short of where we need to be and that simply isn’t good enough.
"While we welcome attempts to train and recruit new midwives, this Government is doing nothing to stop the experienced and qualified ones from leaving.
"At the same time as demands on services and the pressures on maternity staff are rising, staff numbers are going down. Despite the often-heroic work of midwives and others to try to plug the gaps, this is putting the quality of care and the safety of women and babies at risk."
The Trust has said that current student midwives graduating in north Cumbria will be interviewed in the coming weeks and offered positions if they qualify.
In January, a new Apprentice Midwifery course been validated by the NMC at the University of Cumbria. This will allow us to support staff within the organisation to go on to achieve a Midwifery registration and benefits staff that choose to live and work within North Cumbria.
READ MORE: https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/18387618.cumbrian-midwives-bring-joy-new-life---despite-pandemic/
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