Bereavement Midwife

Job overview

We are recruiting for a Bereavement Midwife who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.

An exciting new opportunity has arisen for an experienced Band 7 Midwife to join the Bereavement Team. This is a secondment to support the Maternity bereavement service for 6 months. We are looking for an enthusiastic midwife with a passion for supporting bereaved Families to support this service and contribute to the care of women.

Working in partnership with the Lead Consultant Obstetrician for Bereavement Care, and reporting to the Lead Midwife for Quality Assurance, Governance and Compliance, the Bereavement Midwife will ensure that midwifery, nursing, and support staff have the skills to provide a safe, high quality bereavement service to women and their families..

Our Values are Include, Respect and Improve. It is important that you understand and refer to our values during your recruitment process and beyond

Main duties of the job

Working in partnership with the Lead Consultant Obstetrician for Bereavement Care, and reporting to the Lead Midwife for Quality Assurance, Governance and Compliance, the Bereavement Midwife will ensure that midwifery, nursing, and support staff have the skills to provide a safe, high quality bereavement service to women and their families.

The Bereavement Midwife will provide verbal and written information to bereaved families who have experienced fetal loss and/or childbirth related difficulties, providing a point of contact and support following their loss and any interaction with women’s and children’s services in subsequent pregnancies.

Where appropriate, the Bereavement Midwife will be an advocate for women and their families throughout the review and/or investigation process following pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or early neonatal death by the Divisional Governance team and/or any external agencies.

The Bereavement Midwife will also act in a supportive and educational role towards midwifery and medical staff managing bereavement care within the Division, providing guidance and resources on the physical, psychological, and administrative aspects of bereavement related issues.

Working for our organisation

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, are proud of the range of general & specialist services we provide & our 6,000 plus dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible & innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.
We run the following hospitals:
• The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
• New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
• Hertford County, Hertford
• Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood

We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation; our staff & patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.

We understand that finding & starting a new job is an important life decision. If you need reasonable adjustments for a disability, or a life event, such as menopause - so that we can consider your application fairly & to get the best out of you during the selection process, please let us know.
We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees.

Employees are entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns & we are committed to listen & consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made & considered formally, & will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed information regarding this role.

Person specificationQualifications/TrainingEssential criteria

• Registered Midwife
• Professional Portfolio demonstrating evidence of relevant ongoing professional development.

Desirable criteria

• Relevant Post graduate Study in Midwifery
• Basic Counselling
• Mentorship

Previous ExperienceEssential criteria

• Ability to demonstrate a working knowledge of Midwifery in all areas of the maternity service
• Evidence of relevant clinical updating
• Delivery of training for all staff groups

Desirable criteria

• Involvement with clinical audit research

SkillsEssential criteria

• Well-developed interpersonal skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Demonstrate commitment to the implementation of evidence-based practice.

Desirable criteria

• Ability to maintain and present data
• Practical experience of audit and implementation and review
• Experience of teaching and presentation to multi-disciplinary forums

KnowledgeEssential criteria

• Aware of current research, reports and guidelines relating to maternity care and fetal medicine
• Demonstrate an awareness of Clinical Governance
• Commitment to undertake CPD relevant to specific area of practice

Our values

We want our staff to believe in, demonstrate and live our values in everything we do.

Include
We value the diversity and experience of our community colleagues and partners, creating relationships and climates that provide an opportunity to share, collaborate and grow together.

Respect
We create a safe environment where we are curious of the lived experience of others, seek out best practice and are open to listening and hearing new ideas.

Improve
We are committed to consistently delivering excellent services and continuously looking to improve through a creative workforce that feels empowered to act in service of our shared purpose.

Committed to our Community

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion for all job applicants, staff, patients and the wider community. We want to create a workforce which represents the communities we serve. We are on a journey to become a more inclusive organisation and we welcome applications from everyone regardless of their background. In particular we encourage applications from candidates with disabilities, and candidates from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who are currently under-represented in various parts of our workforce .

We understand the importance of balancing work and home life. We are committed to support flexible working for our staff wherever possible and all our employees are given the opportunity to discuss potential for flexible working.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and achieved our status in 2019.

We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact us by emailing resourcing.enh-tr@nhs.net

We are also proud to support our UK armed forces by supporting Reservists, Cadet Instructors, Veterans and military spouses/partners into employment and offering supportive policies that value their contribution to the community and to our Trust.

We are committed to being a carer-friendly environment, addressing the complex needs of families with caring responsibilities. In partnership with Carers in Hertfordshire, all our working carers have access to support from recruitment. We are also a member of Carers UK, providing resources to make balancing work and caring easier. Our approach is inclusive, recognizing diverse challenges and creating a supportive environment where carers feel valued.

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