MATERNITY NURSES

Maternity nurses offer a smooth transition into parenthood. Their wealth of experience is invaluable to new parents that wish to learn all aspects of caring for their new baby, including development, feeding and settling. Maternity nurses are not there to take over your baby, but to guide, encourage and advise. This builds confidence and promotes the bonding process in those precious, but daunting, first few weeks.

Whether it is to recuperate from the birth, establish breast feeding or set up workable sleeping routines, a maternity nurse is the expert child carer for the role. For those families expecting twins or triplets, the extra pair of hands and knowledgable advice is invaluable!

Maternity nurses help families in the private home immediately following the birth of a baby. They remain with a family for long enough to leave new parents feeling confident and able to cope alone or when baby is settled into a routine. This is normally a period of 4 - 12 weeks, depending on the number of babies and the individual circumstances. For example, caesarean sections take at least six weeks to recuperate from.

Maternity nurses are very much baby-centred rather than mother-centred. If you would prefer a helper who cares for you so that you can concentrate on the baby, you should consider hiring a doula.

Selection Process

At Top Notch Maternity, we only select candidates that have the correct temperament and experience to work as a maternity nurse. Successful applicants will have previously worked with newborn babies either in a nursing or midwifery capacity or as a nanny/maternity nurse in a private home. They will possess a genuine love of their work and the ability to communicate well with new parents. They need to have a warm and loving nature that will boost confidence and encourage a good working relationship with every new parent.

Vetting procedure

All Top Notch maternity nurses are thoroughly vetted to maintain the highest possible standards. Each candidate is personally interviewed at the agency and their personal documentation is checked and verified. Gaps in work history are investigated and at least two of the most recent references are checked. All our candidates are advised to apply for a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

Qualifications we look for may include: Registered General Nurse (RN), Registered Sick Children's Nurse (RSCN), Registered Midwife (RM), Registered Health Visitor (RHV). Nanny qualifications include: Cache Diploma in Nursery Nursing (NNEB), BTEC, National Vocational Qualification (NVQ).

Maternity nurse qualifications include: Maternity Practitioner Award (MNT) and the additional courses offered - Breast Feeding workshops, Paediatric First Aid certificates, Colic and Reflux workshops, Care of Multiple Birth Babies and Postnatal Depression training.

Some nannies may have worked in childcare their whole lives and do not have formal qualifications but a background of 'on the job' experience. These candidates have a list of verifiable references and Top Notch Maternity applicants must have completed at least five positions with young babies.

Once registered and working through Top Notch Maternity, we continue to check and monitor each position to maintain high standards of care. This helps our maternity consultants to place each candidate with the right family. We recommend for your own reassurance, you check one or two references personally.

Role of a maternity nurse

* Offering help and advice on all aspects of baby care

* Setting up a routine for the baby

* Care of the baby's laundry and keeping the nursery clean and tidy

* Responsible for sterilizing any bottles, pacifiers etc

* Feeding the baby, i.e. giving baby a bottle, or taking baby to mum to be breastfed

* Assisting and encouraging mum with breastfeeding, i.e. different positions and offering advice on any potential problems encountered

*Ensuring new mothers get plenty to drink and eat a balanced/nutritional diet

*Integrating the new baby(ies) into the family, i.e. with older siblings.

The 'extras' a maternity nurses is willing to offer will depend on the individual. These may include shopping, preparation of meals, school runs and dog walking. Maternity nurses are not responsible for domestic cleaning, household laundry or care of siblings except where previously agreed at interview stage.

Maternity nurses are on duty 24 hours per day, 5 or 6 days per week. Alternatively we do have days or nights only ladies for circumstances when it is not suitable or possible to have a carer in the home full time.

It is worth remembering that live-in maternity nurses are not able to remain 'on call' 24 hours per day! They will require a few hours during a day to catch up on sleep, either in the morning or afternoon, whenever is convenient to the household.

Booking a maternity nurse

Ideally, you will book a maternity nurse as early as possible due to the fact that a lot of candidates accept bookings several months in advance. This ensures a wider choice of candidate to interview.

It is however, possible to find an 'emergency nurse' at short notice to cover unforeseen circumstances such as baby's arriving earlier than expected, problems with feeding or settling baby and difficult deliveries.

Once you have made a decision and found the most suitable candidate for your needs, you will be asked to give a definite start date. If you baby should arrive later than expected, your booked maternity nurse will ask for a retainer of 50% salary for each day that the baby is overdue from the agreed start date.

As maternity nurses are self-employed, they have their own contracts of employment and booking conditions. It is quite normal for a maternity nurse to ask for a deposit to guarantee their booking.

Maternity nurse rates

All maternity nurses are self-employed and therefore responsible for their own tax and National Insurance. Maternity nurses set their own rates of pay and will charge a weekly salary dependant on qualifications and experience.

Live-in maternity nurses

£700 - £900 per 5 or 6 day week for a single baby

£800 - £1000 per 5 or 6 day week for twins

Days and nights-only maternity cover

Between £11 and £18 per hour (depending on the number of babies)

To find out more about employing a Top Notch maternity nurse, please call 020 7881 0893 or email your queries to team@topnotchnannies.co.uk. Remember to include a contact number so can give you a call back.