Midwives are calling on health chiefs to protect pregnant women by ringfencing maternity services during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has raised concerns that vital staff - including midwives and maternity support workers - will be redeployed to other areas during the coronavirus outbreak.
A survey of 69 heads or directors of midwifery has found that the shortage of midwives on NHS maternity units has doubled since the start of the outbreak.
Heads and directors of midwifery from across the UK said that services were struggling to get by with almost one in 10 midwifery posts vacant even before coronavirus hit the UK, according to the survey.