Petition calls for end to jobs crisis as ‘graduate midwives are being left on the sidelines’

Nation Cymru staff

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has launched a petition demanding urgent action from the Welsh Government, after warning that Graduate midwives in Wales are being left jobless on the sidelines while maternity services are struggling under mounting pressures.

The trade union say that ther are still newly qualified midwives without jobs, despite spending three years in education and accruing debt to start their midwifery career.

But now, instead of starting their careers in the NHS, some are being forced to take jobs in other industries, raising fears that Wales could lose a generation of midwives it has already invested in educating.

The RCM is calling on the Welsh Government to fund posts for newly qualified midwives and address the unsafe staffing pressures facing maternity services – warning that it makes no sense to leave midwives unable to work when they are so desperately needed.

Julie Richards, RCM Cymru Director, said: “We’ve got midwives in Wales, fully qualified and registered, who are ready to start their careers and care for women and babies but they’re being left on the sidelines with no jobs to go to.

“The Welsh Government has invested in educating these midwives but they’re not investing in employing them. This is also about the safety of maternity care in Wales. Maternity services are under increasing pressure with staff shortages. We need enough midwives on our wards and we need to make sure the next generation of midwives can actually enter the profession.

“We will keep pushing until every newly qualified midwives in Wales has the opportunity to start their career. We know we’re stronger when we stand together, and that’s why we’ve launched this petition. We want midwives, students,
families and the wider public to add their voices and help us send a clear message to the Welsh Government that this situation can’t continue.

“These midwives have done everything asked of them. Now it’s time for the Welsh Government to do their bit.”

In previous years, all graduate midwives in Wales secured a position throughout the HEIW streamlining process – but this year there have been fewer jobs available, leaving 63 newly qualified midwives jobless.

RCM Cymru has been pressing for action on graduate jobs throughout 2026, gathering evidence from students through surveys, taking students’ concerns directly to the Senedd. RCM student members also attended a graduate summit, meeting with the Welsh Government, HEIW and health boards.

Megan Lewis, of Swansea, graduated with a First Class Honours midwifery degree this year but was left without a midwifery job during the HEIW streamlining process in the summer.

She said: “I’m not somebody who cries easily – but when I opened the email telling me I hadn’t got a job, I cried for hours. I’d always imagined that finishing my midwifery degree would be one of the happiest moments of my life, but instead, I was left wondering what on earth I was going to do next.

Midwifery isn’t an ordinary degree. There are the academic demands, of course, but also the night shifts, weekends, long placements and time away from your family. We completed 2,550 hours of clinical practice, balancing placements with university work and, for many of us, paid employment and family responsibilities.

If I’m completely honest, I felt let down. The Welsh Government funded my training, and I received an NHS bursary on the condition that I worked in Wales for two years after qualifying. But how can you invest in educating midwives, ask them to commit to working in Wales, and then not provide the jobs for them to do that?

Megan said what makes the situation harder is knowing how understaffed maternity services in Wales are, having experienced it while on placements. She added: “Midwives regularly told us how much they valued having students on shift because we were another pair of hands to help with care.

“Of course, students aren’t a replacement for registered midwives but when you’ve seen how hard staff are working, how much they’re juggling and how desperately they’re trying to give every woman the time and care she deserves, it’s difficult to understand why there aren’t jobs for newly qualified midwives.”

Welsh Government said: “We understand the frustration and anxiety this has caused graduates and their families. Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) is working with Health Boards and NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership to identify suitable opportunities for remaining graduates.

“We’re taking a closer look at the specific barriers in midwifery recruitment so we can target our efforts precisely where they’re needed most and accelerate progress.”

• The petition can be signed at www.megaphone.org.uk/p/EmployMidwiferyGraduates  

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