Mums Matter Project Worker

**Job Title**: Mums Matter Project Worker

**Location**: Various sites in Havering, Barking and Dagenham,

Harrow Lodge House, Hornchurch for Mind, Havering, Barking and Dagenham

**Salary**: £25,334.40 pa, pro rata

Fixed Term contract for 2 years, 24 hours per week

**Accountable to**: The Management Committee of Havering Mind through the Chief Executive

**Responsible to**: Project Lead

**Liaise with** Havering Mind staff and volunteers, statutory agencies; voluntary bodies; Havering Mind clients and carers and other partner organisations.

**Main tasks of job**:
This is an exciting opportunity to join Mind in Havering, Barking and Dagenham in a key role supporting mums perinatal mental health and wellbeing across local communities in partnership with our Mums Matter lead.

The successful post holder will be required to work with a flexible approach to meet the needs of local communities.

Mums Matter is a structured 8-week course consisting of 2 hourly sessions for mums who are feeling low, stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious, or having worrying thoughts and feelings, and are struggling with the transition to motherhood. The course is run by a lead, with the support of project workers, and there are crèche facilities provided on site, to enable a protected learning space for all mums accessing the programme.

As a Mums Matter Project Worker you will work under the guidance of the Mums Matter lead, building relationships with individual mums, managing your own caseload, observing and contributing to positive group dynamics and peer-relationships, as well as helping mums to identify and make positive changes that will nurture and support their wellbeing.

The Project Worker will deliver this innovative service supporting women experiencing multiple and complex needs during the perinatal period (birth - child’s 3rd birthday).

The service is an early intervention, low intensity service for those with low level (mild to moderate) diagnosed mental health issues or who are at risk of developing mental health issues in the perinatal period, and offers enhanced emotional support for those identified and referred.

The role entails delivering listening and support interventions to a number of groups of women and one session for their key supporters, taking referrals (from self-referred women and others such as health visitors) and liaising with local stakeholders to ensure that the course is advertised widely and suitably.

The project will work with individual women, families and in-group settings throughout the perinatal period, undertaking a range of duties including:

- To undertake comprehensive assessment of a woman’s needs, to include health, psychological and social needs
- To contact, and support women to engage with support and work proactively to secure partner relationships and build referral base
- To work collaboratively with women to develop, implement and review responsive support plans based on individual need, aimed at promoting positive health, mental health and wellbeing and increase mother/baby bonding
- To support women practically and emotionally in relation to assessed and support planned needs and facilitating the safe learning space within sessions
- To manage caseload of assigned women as appropriate, navigate data management systems across all partner requirements, managing high level data analysis and extraction to promote reporting
- To be aware of other outside agencies and support, and support clients to access appropriate agencies in relation to support plan or presenting need
- To attend multi-agency meetings where appropriate and in accordance with support/safety plan needs, additionally to act as an advocate for women within these forums
- To develop relationships with partner organisations to provide a co-ordinated multi agency response to women experiencing multiple and complex needs
- Empowering mums on personal care of women and babies providing information and advice on self-care, infant care and initiating breastfeeding, health promotion, wellbeing and mental health coping strategies to ensure the best possible and positive start to parenting.
- To support within crèche where necessary as directed by lead, to strengthen relationship with crèche workers and create holistic understanding of mother-baby attachment

You will be aiming to prevent escalation of individual to secondary mental health care and improve the bonding and relationship of parent to baby. You will establish and maintain excellent interpersonal skills and effective communication between the multidisciplinary health care teams, women and their families.

**Duties and responsibilities**

1. To support new mums to understand the emotional needs of their infants and promote secure, positive and increased early attachment to the child, preventing escalation to secondary mental health care

2. To assist Project Lead by implementing the promotion plan for service through effective outreach and materials