International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

There needs to be more one-to-one care for pregnant women and every mother-to-be should have one midwife assigned to them, it has been suggested.

Recent research published in the British Medical Journal revealed the risk of neonatal death was higher when babies were delivered outside the normal working week.

Staffing shortages can lead to a higher chance of neonatal death, which is usually the case with children born out of regular office hours, according to Sarah Montagu, admin secretary at the Association of Radical Midwives.

"People know that there is the possibility of increased risk if you haven't got the staffing levels. People were always aware of that.

"One of the things that the Association of Radical Midwives is campaigning for is more one-to-one care for women, and that's what women should be having - one midwife to one woman so we don't have people who are rushing in and out of rooms looking after three women at once," she added.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, there were 790,200 live births in 2009 compared with 794,400 in 2008.

Posted by Carla Mackenzie