More and more midwives are leaving the NHS before they reach 35 because of burnout, worsening the staffing problems that are affecting maternity units.

The growing trend of early career quitting has sparked fears it poses a threat to the quality and safety of care that mothers and babies receive from already-understaffed childbirth services.

During 2025-26 a total of 1,669 midwives aged 34 or under left the health service in England – more than half (57%) of the 2,949 midwives of all ages who resigned.

The intense pressures of working in maternity services, including the growing complexity of childbirth and risks involved, are thought to lie behind the trend.

Of last year’s 1,669 younger leavers, 205 were under 25, while 655 were between 25 and 29 and the other 809 were between 30 and 34, parliamentary questions tabled by the Liberal Democrats reveal.

The number of midwives under 35 who are quitting has risen sharply in recent years. The 2025-26 figure was 59% higher than the 1,051 who left in 2014-15, NHS figures show.

In addition, almost one in four midwifery students are dropping out before they finish their three-year degree course, according to separate figures obtained by the Lib Dems. In 2021 a total of 3,565 students embarked on a midwifery degree. But just 2,725 graduated in 2024, which means 840 (24%) of the would-be midwives who started did not finish their course. Midwifery students spend most of their second and third years learning on the job in maternity units.

The loss of midwifery staff and students underlines what the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) calls the “staffing emergency” in maternity care across the UK.

Three-quarters of midwives have considered leaving the profession over the last year, mainly because of concern over staffing levels and patient safety, a recent RCM survey found.

Hannah Leonard, the union’s deputy chief midwife, said the exodus of midwives under 35 was “deeply worrying” and showed that too many were ending up “burnt-out within a few years of qualifying because every shift means too few colleagues, missed breaks and unpaid hours”.

“Losing these midwives – and students, even before they qualify – is a terrible waste of talent,” she added.

Both recent large-scale reviews of maternity care in England, by Donna Ockenden and Valerie Amos, identified lack of staff as a key problem endangering the safety of care to patients.

Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem health spokesperson, said: “These statistics reveal an alarming crisis in maternity, with far too many midwives burning out early in their career and in their training. Patients are paying the price, and mothers are left with no alternative but to give birth on understaffed and unsafe wards.

“Rather than throw money at yet more new recruits who quit under intolerable pressure, the government needs a new approach. Through guaranteeing protected, year-round training and professional development we can help midwives cope with rising complexity and risk.”

About 10% of all midwives quit the NHS every year. But that disguises the fact that one in seven (14.6%) of 25- to 29-year-olds and one in six (16.6%) of those aged 30-34 left during 2025-26.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) did not respond directly to the figures.

A spokesperson said only: “Under this government we have a record number of midwives in the workforce and we value the vital service they provide in maternity and neonatal units across the country.

“To make the NHS the best employer it can be, we have introduced new NHS staff standards to improve health and wellbeing support, promote flexible working, as well as crucial measures to tackle violence, sexual harassment or abuse and racism.

“Alongside consecutive above-inflation pay rises, we’ve bolstered the midwifery workforce through our graduate guarantee and recently opened up 1,000 more midwifery roles backed by £10m to help prevent student midwives leaving the profession.”

A record 25,500 full-time-equivalent midwives are working in the NHS, 2,000 more than when the Labour government took office in July 2024, DHSC figures show.