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Rising number of births to older mothers in West Midlands

Record numbers of births to older mothers are putting maternity units under pressure - with the NHS short of around 2,600 midwives.

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The number of babies born in England and Wales to women in their thirties and forties was up 6,859 in 2014.

And that figure is on the rise in the West Midlands too, raising fears that hospitals that are already under pressure will struggle to cope.

In Sandwell the number rose by four per cent, compared to three per cent in Dudley and Wolverhampton, two per cent in Walsall and three per cent in Staffordshire.

Nationally, births to women in their early thirties (30-34) have been above 200,000 in each year since 2010 - a level not seen since at least the 1930s.

In every year since 2006, more than 110,000 babies have been born to women in their late thirties (35-39). This is a level of births not seen since just after the Second World War, and four times the level of the late 1970s.

For women in their 40s, births have been above 29,000 for four years in a row. These are again numbers not seen since the years after the Second World War.

With 661,496 babies born in England last year, almost 100,000 higher than in 2001, the Royal College of Midwives said the NHS is short of around 2,600 midwives, made worse by the ageing of the midwifery workforce.

The number of midwives in England aged 50 or over has doubled from 4,057 in 2001 to 8,169 in 2014.

Last year is believed to be the first year on record when the NHS employed more than 1,000 midwives in their 60s.

The number aged 65 or over rose from just eight in 2001 to 177 last year, the RCM said.

RCM chief executive, Cathy Warwick, said: "All women deserve the very best care, regardless of the age at which they give birth. Women have every right to give birth later in life, and we support that. But typically, older women will require more care during pregnancy, and that means more midwives are needed.

"It is deeply frustrating for midwives that they cannot provide the quality of maternity care that they want to deliver because they are so short-staffed."

She added: "What worries me in particular is the retirement time bomb that our report unearths. Not only in England, but across the UK, we are not seeing enough new midwives being taken on.

"Many older midwives will, of course, be very experienced, and they are able to mentor and support newer, younger midwives. But they won't be around in the maternity units forever."

There have been more than 1,100 births to women aged 40 or over in Wales each year since 2010 - and this is the highest levels since the sixties.

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