New baby boom to put 'enormous' strain on NHS Professor Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said the increase was putting "enormous" strain on the NHS. She said: "The baby boom is restarting with renewed vigour. We are already at birth numbers that haven't been seen for at least a couple of generations, probably not in the working life of any midwife practising today. Today's midwives simply have never seen anything like it. The demand this is placing on the NHS is enormous. She continued: "NHS maternity services, especially in England, are on a knife-edge. We have carried shortages for years, but with the number of births going up and up and up. I really believe we are at the limit of what maternity services can safely deliver. Before David Cameron came to power, he promised another 3,000 midwives across the NHS, but to date only an extra 900 have been employed. The RCM is arguing another 5,000 are needed across England, to keep pace with the rising number of births. It has calculated Wales is short by 150 but Scotland and Northern Ireland currently have enough. A recent RCM poll of more than 2,000 midwives found nine in 10 did not feel they could give women all the care and support they needed. A lack of midwives has been cited as one reason for the high proportion of caesareans in Britain, with mothers sometimes opting for surgery to avoid repeating a traumatic first birth. Yet while births are going up the RCM is concerned at signs midwife numbers could actually fall in some places due to cost-cutting. Some NHS trusts are reducing vacancies, meaning a sixth of new midwives have been looking for a job for more than three months. Prof Warwick said: "What is so frustrating is that there is a clear need for more midwives. We have record-breaking birth figures and we need all the midwives we can get. We're training midwives, but we're not recruiting them. That is a sad waste of all their time and effort, and a waste of taxpayers' money too. A Department of Health spokesman said: "We have over 900 more midwives working in the NHS than in 2010, but that doesn't mean we can stop here. We are working closely with the Royal College of Midwives to make sure the supply of midwives matches birthrates. Ultimately, delivering real choice for women means more personalised care. Dr Dan Poulter, the health minister, yesterday announced at extra £25 million would be spent on maternity wards to build ensuite facilities, rooms for partners to stay overnight and birthing pools. He said the money would only be released to NHS trusts if "there is evidence that women have been asked about the changes they want in their local areas." Prof Warwick said the extra cash was "a welcome and positive step," albeit a small one in the context of the £2.5 billion maternity budget.