Overview
We have an excellent opportunity for new staff to join our busy and friendly Maternity team at Luton and Dunstable Hospital as Maternity Support Workers.
Maternity Support Workers (MSW) provide direct delivery of clinical care to all women and babies accessing maternity services. They may be based in inpatient areas, within specialist and integrated teams, or community hubs that work across the Bedfordshire area. Band 3 MSWs may serve as a point of contact/support for women, babies, and their families and provide clinical, physical, psychological and emotional care and support. They provide appropriate information and, where necessary, signpost to wider support organisations.
We do not offer sponsorship for this post. We do not offer virtual interviews for this post. You will work alongside and under the direction of the midwife and other members of the multidisciplinary team to ensure the safe and effective care of mothers and babies.
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton, offering services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will join a friendly, high performing Trust committed to staff wellbeing, with access to training and development to support your career.
Responsibilities
* Assist in providing personal care for women, including post-operative care, venepuncture, recording of observations and obtaining microbiology specimens.
* Assist the midwives and wider multidisciplinary team in the care of the newborn, including completing observations, taking newborn blood spot samples, and jaundice monitoring using a Transcutaneous Bilirubinometer.
* Promote healthy lifestyles for women (smoking cessation, exercise, diet, and drug misuse) in line with national recommendations and government initiatives.
* Promote and participate in maternal and neonatal care activities, including weight/measure assessments, neonatal observations, and documentation in line with local guidance.
* Undertake and document required administration, data input, and record-keeping in electronic systems and care pathways.
* Assist with infant feeding support in line with Baby Friendly principles and local policy, including helping with bonding, skin-to-skin, expressing milk, and breast pump use, while providing evidence-based information on infant feeding and safety.
* Support women and families with care of the newborn and promote bladder care and postoperative care in line with Trust policies.
* Contribute to child and domestic abuse recognition and reporting as appropriate within the ward team.
* Maintain confidentiality and participate in health promotion and group health education as trained and approved.
* Participate in the newborn care pathway, including routine healthy baby observation and newborn blood spot testing where required.
Other information
* Additional duties include processing microbiological specimens, obtaining maternal capillary blood samples for glucose analysis, and independent venepuncture in line with national standards and local policy.
* Assist with removal of catheters, bladder care, and postoperative care as directed by policy and training.
* Infant care administration tasks include weighing babies, cord care guidance, identifying signs of neonatal illness, and reporting to the midwife.
* All new staff are subject to a probationary period covering the first six months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Vacancies may close before the advertised closing date when sufficient applications are received.
Note: This role is within Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest NHS Trusts in the region, offering development opportunities and a commitment to delivering high-quality patient care.
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