Continuity of Carer Midwife

The Extra Midwifery Support team (Ems team) provides Continuity of Care (CoC) for pregnant women and people and their families in the catchment area of PRH & RSCH for defined groups with certain vulnerabilities to reduce national and local inequalities. This will improve outcomes for women, pregnant people and their families, thus improving the equality and equity within our service.

This includes non-English speaking service users, ethnic minorities, disabilities and socio-economic deprivation. This care is provided by midwives working a mixture of clinic & visit shifts for the care in the community antenatally and postnatally, and long days & night shifts in the birth location of the service user's choice (Home/hospital).

Midwives will be expected to provide antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care across PRH & RSCH sites for both day and night cover. Midwives will provide a 24 hour onsite presence to be able to support immediately for the clientele.

We have a combination of permanent and fixed term/secondment opportunities available advertised separately.

Please note that if you currently work for another NHS Trust or UHSussex and you are applying to accept this position as a secondment opportunity, before applying you must seek agreement and authorisation from your current Trust/Manager. Secondments can't be agreed without this approval. If you are unable to gain approval you should refrain from applying unless you wish to take this role as a fixed term position.

To Provide a high standard of Midwifery care to women and pregnant people during the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal periods in both Acute and Primary Care Settings according to Trust Policies and Standards. As a qualified midwife the post holder will be required to provide the necessary supervision, care and advice to women and pregnant people during pregnancy, labour, and the postpartum period, to conduct deliveries under their own responsibility and carry out care of the newborn. COC midwives are required to demonstrate a high degree of autonomy in accordance with the Nursing & Midwifery Council's "Midwives Rules". The post holder requires excellent communication skills and an ability to mange their own workload.

Working within this model provides personalised care for service users and delivers better health outcomes for the pregnant person and baby, increases service user satisfaction and reduces the risk of preterm birth, stillbirth, maternal morbidity and mortality and other adverse outcomes.

This role is eligible for visa sponsorship under the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker route however sponsorship can only be provided where applicants meet the specific requirements set by UKVI, including the relevant skill and salary thresholds (£25000), and any role-specific criteria.

All applicants must be aware that this is a 24 hour 7 day a week service and you will work long days, nights and weekend shifts or an "on-call" model of care provision.

At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always deliver Excellent Care Everywhere, as shown in our Outstanding for Caring CQC rating. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of staff networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 3) and a Veteran Aware Trust.

Candidate Pack

Take full responsibility for assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating Midwifery care consistent with evidence based practice for mothers, babies and families. Working in both Inpatient and Community settings.

Discuss options and support parents in making informed choice in their plan of care such as Birth plans, pain relief, infant feeding, baby care, return to work and family planning.

Discuss options and support parents in making informed choice in the period following birth.

Analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of such care, making necessary modifications of any midwifery care pathway and giving professional advice and support as required.

Act as the clients advocate and empower them to promote their own health and well being.

Respect the need for privacy and dignity and obtain clients informed consent throughout the childbirth continuum.

Refer clients to other practitioner's e.g. senior midwife, obstetrician, physiotherapist and paediatrician when needs and risks are beyond the post holder's scope of practice or require specialist input.

MBRRACE-UK and Saving babies' lives reports highlighted inequalities in maternal and neonatal mortality. The inequalities highlighted were:

• Increased mortality and morbidity rates of black women and their babies, which are 3 times higher than their white counterparts.
• Asian and other ethnic minorities and their babies are twice as likely to suffer morbidity and mortality in the perinatal period.
• People with mental health conditions make up 11% of perinatal deaths.
• Pregnant people in the most deprived areas are twice as likely to die in the perinatal period.
• Rates of stillbirth and premature births were higher in areas of deprivation.
• Increase in poor outcomes for non-English speaking people and their neonates.