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 individualized care to families experiencing pregnancy loss, stillbirth and neonatal deaths. They will be responsible for coordinating sensitive and holistic care to bereaved families by offering their expert support and guidance. They will work in the hospital and community setting providing specialist care during and after pregnancy loss, covering a 5‑day a week schedule across perinatal services, increasing to 7 days per week in the future inline with national bereavement care pathway recommendations. There may also be the requirement to work clinical shifts to maintain midwifery proficiencies and in times of escalation.
Main duties of the job
Give support and advice to women and families who have experienced pregnancy loss, termination of pregnancy and neonatal death.
They will give specialist advice to maternity staff including doctors, midwives and support workers on specific aspects of bereavement care.
Have responsibility for the assessment of care needs and the development, implementation and evaluation of programmes of individualized care for women and families in the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal period.
Will be responsible for ensuring all care is delivered according to Trust policies, guidelines and procedures together with national guidance.
Ensure the continuing development and training of staff by formulation of training packages for maternity health care professionals in bereavement care.
The successful candidate will also contribute to further service developments and the planning of new projects as necessary.
Be an expert midwifery practitioner leading the development and delivery of high‑quality midwifery services with a specialist focus on the needs of bereaved families.
Act as an advocate for bereaved women and their families.
Job responsibilities
To ensure safe and effective clinical practice the Bereavement Midwife will:
Be responsible for coordination of care and support for bereaved families who suffer a pregnancy loss within maternity over 16 weeks gestation. Support in these instances involves communication in difficult circumstances and requires excellent interpersonal skills due to the highly emotional nature of the cases.
Continually develop and review guidelines in relation to pregnancy loss and the death of a baby in order to achieve best practice.
Liaise closely with other departments including bereavement services, staff, chaplaincy, mortuary, pathology services, registrar of births and deaths, coroner officers and local funeral directors.
Act as an educational resource for staff on physical, psychological and administrative aspects of bereavement care.
Give specialist advice to members of staff on specific aspects of bereavement care.
Act as an advocate for women receiving care.
Support staff in the clinical areas and mentor junior midwives who are involved in caring for bereaved families.
Have responsibility for setting, monitoring and reviewing standards and procedures for bereavement support that are within the clinical framework.
Be responsible for the coordination/implementation of the core principles in relation to the National Bereavement Care Pathway within maternity.
Be a Person Designate for the Human Tissue Authority within maternity to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Human Tissue Act.
Have a working knowledge and comply with the requirements of MBRRACE and be part of the PMRT review process within maternity, acting as an advocate for parents and ensuring that their perspectives are taken forward.
Maintain strong links with support organisations such as SANDS, ARC, Lullaby Trust, Child Bereavement UK.
Work closely with bereavement leads within neonatal care and gynaecology services.
Represent RWT at local and national bereavement events.
Become a core member of regular groups including Governance, PMRT Group and Perinatal Mortality Review meetings. Will have direct patient contact, delivering care and support in a variety of settings in accordance with the need of women and families. This includes within the hospital and out in the community.
Be required to support women and families, through a wide range of treatments and experiences which can be highly distressing and challenging.
The bereavement midwife will have access to restorative clinical practice sessions for emotional support and wellbeing provided by the Professional Midwifery Advocates (PMAs) within the maternity unit.
Take part in the processes of MBRRACE (Mothers and Babies Reducing Risk through Audit and Confidential Enquiry), Surveillance Tool, PMRT (Perinatal Mortality Review Tool) and CDOP (Child Death Review Panel). This will include regular attendance at meetings when required and working closely with the Governance Team.
The post holder will be expected to:
Assess, plan, implement and evaluate Midwifery care for mothers and babies suffering bereavement.
Analyse and evaluate the effectiveness and make necessary modifications of any Midwifery care pathway, giving professional support and advice as required.
Give emotional support for families by visiting them during their stay within maternity.
Be sensitive and have an awareness of differences in religious, cultural and spiritual needs of the families.
Give advice regarding choices available to parents following the loss of a baby.
Support bereaved families to help them understand clinical information they may have been given.
Respond to requests for assistance with emotional and psychological support of family members and recognise need to refer to the perinatal counsellor.
Provide information relating to registration, funeral services, support agencies.
Maintain a visible and accessible presence within the unit for both staff and families.
Discuss further investigations available to parents including blood tests, post‑mortem examination and placental histology.
Gain informed consent for post‑mortem examination from parents.
Support staff to assist parents in creating memories for their baby, arranging blessings, photographs and keepsakes.
Ensure the privacy and dignity of all patients are maintained being mindful of patient confidentiality.
Provide both practical and emotional support to women and their families, giving them opportunity to acknowledge and express their concerns in a safe environment maintaining confidentiality.
Coordinate postnatal follow‑up as agreed in conjunction with the parents.
Complete all documentation, including face‑to‑face discussions, telephone, text or email conversations with parents, pathways and outside referrals and agencies on the Badger electronic patient record.
Manage enquiries from staff, patients and relatives in a timely and professional manner either in writing, orally or electronically.
Use clinical and leadership skills to update and develop bereavement services to ensure that support is evidence‑based and produces a coordinated and efficient service.
Lead on projects for the improving quality programme.
Liaise with the Trust Bereavement team, mortuary services, chaplaincy, charities, agencies laboratory services, registrar of births and deaths, the coroner officers and funeral directors.
Work with families where/if a maternal death has occurred.
Develop a training and education programme around baby loss and bereavement for all health care professionals.
Provide support and guidance to staff who are delivering care to bereaved women and families within the unit.
Undertake audit and provide statistics with regard to bereavement support.
Work closely with local and national support groups ensuring that care is seamless and of a high quality.
Work with the delivery suite team providing clinical support for women and staff as required.
Network locally and nationally with other midwives who have a special interest in bereavement support.
Create and review guidelines for practice based on the best available evidence.
Develop and review patient information leaflets related to bereavement services and be a member of the patient information forum.
Will be responsible for the coordination/implementation of the core principles in relation to the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP).
Monitor the effectiveness of care delivery and re‑negotiates the programmes of care where indicated to meet the woman's needs.
Refer people to other practitioners when needs and risks are beyond one's own scope of practice or require specialist input.
Provide support and care for the woman/baby and her family, respecting their need for privacy and dignity.
Maintain accurate and legible patient notes in accordance with Trust and national professional policies and guidelines.
Communicate effectively with a wide range of people to explore complex issues and to make complex decisions related to pregnancy loss.
Effectively communicate complex and sensitive condition‑related information to the woman and relatives which requires empathy and reassurance.
Competently receive sensitive information concerning the woman's care pathway and provide information using persuasive, reassuring skills as required, e.g., breaking bad news, special needs, dealing with anxious relatives.
Agree the arrangements for communication with the woman/family/carers, and document these in accordance with Trust policy and the patient's right to confidentiality.
Prioritise the care pathways identified for woman and positively influence the assessment, planning, delivery and evaluation of midwifery.
Ensure the processes are in place to identify, collect and evaluate information in order to support clinical decision‑making.
Keep up to date and act consistently with quality standards and guidelines within own clinical area and associated areas.
Have an understanding of the quality agenda and how standards of care can be maintained.
Continuously monitor and evaluate the quality of work against quality standards in own area and take effective action to address them.
For full details, please see the attached job description and person specification
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Registered Midwife with current NMC registration
* Extensive experience and knowledge as a Band 6
* Full UK driving licence and has access to own vehicle
* SSSA Qualification
* Evidence of CPD beyond registration and evidenced within professional portfolio
* Counselling qualification
* Basic qualification in specialty
Experience
* Previous experience of working with bereaved parents
* Experience of working within highly challenging and distressing situations
* Evidence of multi‑disciplinary working
* Experience of working with Badger electronic record system
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
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