PURPOSE:
Despite falling birthrates across the world, increasing complexity of care and new demands on midwifery staff's time, means that demand for maternity staff continues to rise.Birthrate Plus has been used by maternity services in England for over thirty years. This session will draw on the experience of Birthrate Plus work with services and wider research to describe the staffing, clinical and wider socio-economic factors that determine safe levels of practice and the implications for midwifery staffing and practice.

DISCUSSION:
Providing safe and quality care, along with maintaining staff well-being, requires adequate staffing levels to address the complex needs of maternity care Birthrate Plus is an established multi-factorial demand-led workforce planning tool used by services in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, New South Wales and elsewhere. Drawing on our extensive work with local services and national stakeholder, such as the Royal College of Midwives, along with the findings of an independent review of the methodology underpinning Birthrate Plus, this session will describe trends in workforce planning and the elements that underpin effective planning, specifically – 1. The factors that impact on midwifery staff’s time 2. The role of non-midwifery staff in maternity and, most importantly 3. The issues, including socio-economic and cultural ones, that shape women’s needs and demands on services.

EVIDENCE WHERE RELEVANT:
1. Review of academic literature 2. Work with 100 maternity services 3. Findings of a review of Birthrate Plus’s methodology which was led by an independent advisory group

KEY MESSAGE:
Birth rates are falling (by over 5% in the European Union between 2023/24 however increasing complexity means that the demand for midwifery skills has not reduced. Effective workforce planning is essential to ensure not only safe and effective care for women and babies but also to ensure staff wellbeing. Workforce - planning