Hundreds of delegates from across the UK will be in Brighton next week for the Royal College of Midwives annual conference.

The event runs from Tuesday to Thursday and takes place at the Brighton Metropole Hotel.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt will be addressing the conference, which this year has the theme Midwives Delivering Choice, on Wednesday.

Members and supporters of the Independent Midwives Association are planning to hold a demonstration outside the hotel on the first day of the conference.

They warn plans to make all health professionals take out insurance could spell the end of independent midwifery in England as its members cannot get professional indemnity insurance.

Midwives employed by the NHS are insured via the NHS Litigation Authority but this is not an option for their independent counterparts.

The association warns that childbirth is a high-risk area for insurers, as negative outcomes are expected, blame is often hard to prove and insurance payouts can run into millions of pounds.

As a result, it is effectively impossible for independent midwives to secure insurance.

The association is calling for the government to rethink the proposals and is calling on the Royal College to support the fight.