STRESSED-OUT health workers should take up meditation, the Royal College of Midwives conference heard yesterday.

Workplace reps in maternity units said they were often doing five hours of overtime a week on average.

One rep said staff in her hospital were unable to leave at the end of their shifts because there was no-one to take over their duties.

Midwives are also at increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder due to childbirth incidents outside their control.

And Denise Cohen, a midwife and rep at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, suggested the NHS should offer meditation classes to relieve workplace stress.

She said stress was often concerned with “thinking about the the future and the past,” and mindfulness techniques could ensure that workers were “fully present and in the moment” while on shift.

“Meditation is a very useful tool to ground you and bring you back to the present,” she said. “I’ve used it at three in the morning when I’m on nights and it’s really helped me.”

Ms Cohen, who meditates on a daily basis before work, said she thought meditation should be taught to NHS workers.

Health and Safety Executive psychologist Peter Kelly, who gave a presentation to the conference, said mindfulness techniques could help, but warned that they should not be used to shift the burden of responsibility onto workers.

“It shouldn’t be the only intervention by employers,” he added.

The conference also heard that a “worrying” proportion of NHS workers were suffering bullying and harassment by service users.

A recent RCM survey found that 51 per cent of midwives had reported such behaviour.