(copyright Birthrate Plus(R); May 2009)
Introduction and overview
In recent years there has been increasing need to produce some basis for recommending ratios of births per w.t.e. midwife to enable large-scale workforce planning based upon projected annual hospital and home births. 

Birthrate Plus® has made a number of contribution to large scale planning by drawing on it's data gathered from detailed workforce planning studies in maternity services across the United Kingdom. (DOH 2003, Ball et al 2003, Ball 2004, 2005)

in 2007 we first offered differentiated ratios linked to different levels of service; details of which follow,  and we can provide different options for workforce planning using these ratios together with local information..........please see separate section on different options for workforce assessment. The data for studies undertaken in 2008 has now been added to the database and the ratios have been reviewed, and apart from the ratio for community care, remain the same.