Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of midwives trained in England.

Nationally, since 2021 we have invested an additional £165 million a year to improve maternity and neonatal care, this will rise to an additional £186 million a year from 2024/25 with part year effect in 2023/24. This will improve the quality of care for mothers and babies and increase the number of midwifery posts available.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years.

As part of the plan, we aim to expand the number of midwifery training places from 3,778 to 4,269 by 2028.

The plan also sets out an ambition for 5% of midwives to train through an apprenticeship by 2028, compared to less than 1% currently.