We are looking for a compassionate, experienced Midwife to join our well established perinatal Bereavement team. The post holder will have exceptional communication skills and the ability to work in emotionally demanding situations by providing compassionate and individualised care to families experiencing pregnancy loss, stillbirth and neonatal deaths.
Key Responsibilities
* Coordinate and provide sensitive, holistic care to bereaved families, including those with a pregnancy loss within maternity over 16 weeks gestation.
* Support women and families by visiting them during their stay in maternity, providing emotional support, and helping them understand clinical information.
* Give specialist advice to maternity staff (doctors, midwives, support workers) on all aspects of bereavement care and act as an educational resource.
* Assess, plan, implement and evaluate midwifery care for mothers and babies suffering bereavement, and analyse and modify care pathways as necessary.
* Ensure all care is delivered in accordance with Trust policies, guidelines, national guidance and the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP).
* Maintain accurate, legible patient notes and complete all documentation on the Badger electronic patient record.
* Liaise closely with other departments (bereavement services, chaplaincy, mortuary, pathology, registrar of births and deaths, coroner’s officers, funeral directors) and with local and national support organisations (SANDS, ARC, Lullaby Trust, Child Bereavement UK).
* Act as a Person Designate for the Human Tissue Authority and ensure compliance with the Human Tissue Act in maternity.
* Develop and review training, guidelines and patient information leaflets related to bereavement services; mentor junior midwives and support staff in clinical areas.
* Lead and manage projects for improving quality and lead on audits, providing statistics on bereavement support.
* Maintain a visible and accessible presence within the unit for both staff and families, and support staff to refer families to the perinatal counsellor when needed.
* Coordinate post‑natal follow‑up, discuss investigations (blood tests, post‑mortem examination, placental histology) and gain informed consent for post‑mortem examinations.
* Advocate for bereaved women and their families, maintaining privacy, dignity and confidentiality.
* Communicate effectively with a wide range of people, delivering complex and sensitive information with empathy and reassurance, including breaking bad news.
* Monitor the effectiveness of care delivery, analyse outcomes, and renegotiate programmes of care where indicated.
* Ensure processes are in place to identify, collect and evaluate information to support clinical decision‑making and stay up to date with quality standards and guidelines.
* Represent the Trust at local and national bereavement events, and be a core member of governance groups (Governance, PMRT Group, Perinatal Mortality Review meetings).
* Collaborate with the delivery suite team and other specialties (neonatal care, gynaecology) to provide clinical support to families and staff.
* Network locally and nationally with midwives who have a special interest in bereavement support.
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