FINANCIAL pressures are forcing some midwives to sell their days off and even to steal food from hospitals because they can’t afford to eat, their union leader said. 

RCM general secretary Gill Walton spoke of members resorting to desperate means in order to make ends meet as she laid bare the “devastating” impact of the cost-of-living crisis on maternity workers, with many considering quitting because “they can’t face it anymore.”

Speaking at a TUC rally in central London, Ms Walton said: “Years of underfunding and short staffing has taken their toll and we are now facing a real maternity crisis.