To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the provision of midwives by the national health service meets demand.

I should declare an interest, in that I have a daughter who is a midwife. (S6O-03652)

The Scottish Government values every single midwife and the extraordinary care that they provide day in, day out. I am aware of the decline in applications to midwifery undergraduate programmes, which is exactly why the education and development of students and staff has been a key workstream of the nursing and midwifery task force. The task force will report in the autumn, and its work will help to support the demands that the workforce is facing as it develops actions to diversify education and training pathways, to support longer-term workforce sustainability and to improve workplace culture, practice, flexibility, recruitment and retention.

Last month I attended a Royal College of Midwives event in the Parliament, where three student midwives shared their experiences with me. We know from the RCM’s report and from student evidence that 70 per cent of students incurred additional debt due to their studies, while 60 per cent worry that they may need to drop out for financial reasons. That is even more concerning after learning that roughly 45 per cent of those students are over the age of 30. Will the minister consider an apprenticeship route into midwifery to help with the financial issues of mature student midwives?

The chief midwifery officer attended the round-table meeting that Mr Whittle also attended. She updated everyone who was in attendance on our plans to review finance for nursing and midwifery students and also the wider work that is happening. We are very much considering alternative career pathways into nursing and midwifery. We recognise the growing interest in flexible learning models, which will allow students to earn while they learn. Apprenticeships are certainly part of that work.