§ 14. Mr. Kerry Pollard (St. Albans) (Lab)What steps he has taken to ensure that local health services publicise details of how women can access midwives directly; and if he will make a statement. [169836]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr. Stephen Ladyman)"Building on the best: Choice, responsiveness and equity in the NHS", published in December last year, encourages local health services to publicise contact details for midwives. The children's national service framework, which will be published later this year, will emphasise best practice.
§ Mr. PollardI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. How can we encourage more people to take up training as midwives, to ensure that more women can have access to the midwife service?
§ Dr. LadymanWe are working closely with the Royal College of Midwives and a range of other partners on a whole raft of initiatives, including a leadership programme and an examination of the barriers to midwife recruitment. We are doing everything we can to increase midwife numbers, and I am pleased to say that we are having some success: there are now 1,500 more midwives in the NHS than there were in 1997.
§ Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast. South) (UUP)The Minister agreed that it is a long time since the Select Committee advocated increased midwifery services. 1210 What is the hindrance? Midwives, as opposed to obstetricians, still deliver more than 70 per cent. of babies, so surely they should be given more of lead role.
§ Dr. LadymanThe hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: there is a much greater role to be found for midwives in the future. We are doing as much as we can to ensure that mothers are aware of that. For example, just before Christmas I launched a guide, produced with Dr. Foster, to explain to new mothers what services were available in their locality. We have to go a lot further to ensure that women have a genuine choice of a midwife-led birth if that is what they want.