A record number of midwives are quitting the NHS because work pressures are ruining their lives.
Eight leave every week after being unable to strike a decent work-life balance.
A total of 1,828 have said that was their reason for leaving over the past five years and the number is rising.
The Royal College of Midwives warns the issue will worsen after the pandemic as staff have been doing unpaid overtime.
Executive director Jon Skewes said: “We know many midwives leave due to stress and burnout and never return.
"The NHS needs to do more to ensure a good work-life balance. Working unpaid overtime is unacceptable.”
The RCM said around 3,150 midwifery places are empty. In 2019 a total of 418 left, citing problems juggling home and work lives.
That was 25 per cent up on the 334 who quit for the same reason in 2015.
Mr Skewes said the NHS must also do more to make midwifery appealing, including scrapping student tuition fees.
Last year the Care Quality Commission found half of NHS maternity units were “inadequate” or “requiring improvement”, with some dangerously understaffed.
Despite rising numbers leaving over stress, officials say overall, the total quitting for different reasons is falling.
The NHS added: “There’s been a 10% fall in midwives leaving the health service in the past five years and a new flexible rota is helping to give staff more control of shifts.”
