Midwives are to protest over working conditions in an effort to improve the experience for patients and staff in hospitals.
Hundreds are expected to support the March With Midwives event to send a national message demanding better pay and staffing changes.
The march, to take place on Sunday, November 20, is calling on the government to help deal with the issue after organisers of the march declared a “state of emergency”.
Kate McCambridge, a midwife involved in the campaign, said: “I think it's so important to try and change things. It’s about working conditions for us but also birthing conditions for people having babies.
“It can be so stressful. It’s an amazing profession which can give you so much but it can just feel relentless.
“It’s the nice things that slip like when people just need to sit and chat to us but at the moment we can’t do those things.”
The march taking place in The Level in Brighton is one of a number of coordinated events in towns and cities across the country in a day of action.
In last year’s event in 2021, around 200 midwives, doulas and parents supported the march.
According to statistics from March with Midwives, around 29 of every 30 people who qualify as midwives leave the profession.
The group are calling on the government to listen to staff and service users, enable improved quality of care and reduce the demands on staff.
Earlier this year the health and social care select committee’s expert panel declared there is “no credible government strategy to tackle the situation” in maternity care as 92 per cent of midwives and maternity support workers reported that they feel undervalued by the current government.
The protests come at the same time as nurses are set to go on strike over work and pay conditions.
Nurses from the Royal College of Nursing voted to strike earlier in November with the first strike days expected in December.
The March with Midwives will take place at The Level in Brighton on Sunday, November 20 at 2pm.
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