More than a third of student midwives in Scotland are so worried about their finances that they struggle to sleep at night, according to a new survey.

A new finance report from the Royal College of Midwives says the situation is so bad that three in five midwives-in-training are worried they will be forced to drop out of their course altogether.

The midwifery union says student midwives must have access to fair maintenance loans and fully refunded placement costs.

Entitlement to benefits while studying and a rise in the value of the bursary would also reduce financial stress, according to the union.

Director for Scotland Jaki Lambert says the next generation of midwives “desperately need support” to stay in the profession:

“At a time when we need to invest in the midwifery workforce in Scotland, the system needs to do more to support our future midwives.

“The cost of training to be a midwife in many cases is too much to bear.

“With over half of midwifery students considering dropping out because they can’t afford to complete their course, the bursary, which has been frozen for years, needs to be raised urgently to reflect the cost of living in 2024.

“Make no mistake, we need these students. In one week alone, midwives in worked cumulatively over 12,000 hours extra hours just to keep services running.”

Most midwifery students are eligible for a £10,000 per year bursary.

However, the RCM report says this can disguise worrying levels of ‘financial fragility and stress’ faced each day by student midwives in Scotland.

More than 70% of student midwives report taking on additional debt as a result of their studies, while others lose out on benefits after they enrol.

‘Penalised’ for studying

Long travel to and from clinical placements – a crucial part of qualifying as a midwife – is also burdening students, who report waiting around a month for often what is only part of their travel costs to be reimbursed.

Many students say they are expected to juggle caregiving responsibilities and outside jobs with their studies and clinical placements – layers of financial demands that have left 42% reporting difficulty sleeping, according to the report.

Ella Bendall, student member of the RCM and Chair of the RCM Student Network in Scotland, says her experience is typical of a student midwife:

“'In my time as a student midwife, I often work over 60 hours per week across university, placement, and part-time work in order to make ends meet and make sure my mortgage is paid.

“My experience is extremely common amongst student midwives in Scotland, and does not take into account those that also have additional caring responsibilities or have been unfairly penalised by having benefits cut just to undertake their studies.

“This report illuminates the fragile financial situation that Scottish student midwives face, and potentially will make a tangible difference for students in the future.”

Student nurses have recently reported similar challenges: virtually all student nurses surveyed last year said they were concerned about their finances, with two thirds saying they had considered dropping out as a result.

The Scottish government says that there are no definitive plans to increase the student bursary, but that there are plans to review the ‘full package of support’ on offer to nurses and midwives in training.

A government taskforce set up to lead improvements in nursing and midwifery will also soon make recommendations to improve education and development of students.

Read more: Student nurses face “financial black hole”; Ministers told listen to nursing voices of experience;

Sign up to our bulletin for key health & social care updates straight to your inbox and you can follow healthandcare.scot on Google News.