A FORMER midwife is calling on other medical professionals to ‘put their patients first’ despite the threat of the NHS pension age rising to 68.

The Mayor of Rossendale, Coun Gladys Sandiford says she can understand why fellow midwives are ‘appalled’ at the thought of having to work later in life.

Coun Sandiford, of Haslingden, said: “I would hope people going into midwifery are doing so, for a love of the job and not just for money.

“In this day and age, new midwives are nurses are starting work later.

“When I was 15, I started as a cadet nurse and had done six years service compared to the equivalent age of a new nurse leaving university.

“I think we have to change the way we think, of course nobody wants to work later but to draw money you do have to pay in.

“We should think of it as adding those extra years lost studying on to the end of our careers.”

The Royal College of Midwives said the survey paints a picture of a profession feeling undervalued by the Government despite coping with a serious midwife shortage, and a birthrate racing ahead of the maternity services ability to cope.

The survey also revealed deep fears about job security in the profession with 51 per cent of respondents saying they had concerns about job cuts and the threat of redundancy.

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “It is a government that refuses to acknowledge the profound shortage of midwives in England.

“It is no surprise that many midwives may to choose to simply walk away from the NHS if proposed changes to their pensions are thrust upon them.”