Last month the Trust confirmed new funding had been secured for six UEA student midwives and they would start in mid-August. Another 10 student midwives are also being offered posts from within existing budgets and they will start in mid-September.

The ten students are the very first to have undertaken the UEA's direct entry midwifery course and have been studying to become midwives for the past three years.

The other six midwives were formerly nurses and have completed their 18 month midwifery degree. All the midwives have undertaken clinical training at the university hospital.

Head of Midwifery Sue Marshall said; "We are delighted to be able to offer jobs to all the UEA midwives who wish to take up employment with us.

We are also very excited to welcome the first of the direct-entry midwives and they will all be working across maternity services from community, ante-natal, delivery and post-natal."

Director of Nursing and Education Christine Baxter said: "Nationally there is a  shortage of midwives and we are in the very lucky position as a university hospital to be able to work closely with the UEA and to recruit the vast majority of their midwifery students."

Staff at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital deliver more than 5,000 babies a year and 191 midwives are currently employed by the Trust.

Currently the Trust has a midwife to birth ratio of 1:37. The lowest midwife to birth rate in the region is 1:35 and the highest is 1:41.