Maternal Medicine Midwife

Job overview

The Maternal Medicine Services Lead Midwife will support and coordinate the care pathways of pregnant women and birthing people with complex pregnancies. This includes women with complex pre-existing medical conditions, multiple pregnancies or on a preterm birth pathway.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work with the Lead Consultant for Maternal Medicine and appropriate medical teams to form a multidisciplinary team approach for the management of pregnant women with pre-existing medical disorders and pregnancy-specific medical disorders. This includes neurological, heart, endocrine/glandular, joint and connective tissue, bowel, kidney/renal, lung/respiratory, liver and metabolic disorders, haematological/blood disorders including sickle cell disease, thrombosis and coagulation problems, high blood pressure and cancer.

The post holder will work closely with the Fetal Medicine Consultants to co-ordinate the highest standard of clinical care for women / birthing people with multiple pregnancies and the Pre-Term Birth Consultant to ensure effective care of women at risk of preterm within the Maternity Service. They will be responsible for the ongoing development and oversight of specialist support midwives for multiple pregnancy and preterm birth as well as identifying ongoing gaps in service provision and developing strategies to address areas of deficit.

They will provide expert midwifery leadership, support and advice to women attending outpatient clinics, supporting the Lead Consultants within the maternal medicine services. They will be a point of contact for other specialist services to embed pathways of care and support in developing guidance and standards related to maternal medicine, multiple pregnancies or preterm birth.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• With the Maternal Medicine Consultant be the lead specialist professional and clinical support for the delivery of evidenced based woman centred midwifery care for women with complex pre-existing medical conditions in pregnancy.
• Be accountable for the assessment, planning, prescribing, implementation and evaluation of care responding to the individual needs of women and their families.
• Promote effective teamwork and collaborative relationships within maternal medicine, the multidisciplinary team and across health care settings to optimise their involvement with complex care pathways and improve health outcomes for pregnant women with co – existing medical conditions
• Be responsible for the development and clinical expertise of specialist support midwives for multiple pregnancy and preterm birth. Maintain oversight of women with multiple pregnancies and those women on a pre-term pathway in the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal period. Liaise with multi-disciplinary team to ensure women are allocated to the appropriate care pathway.
• Lead and develop services to ensure continuity and consistency of care, particularly when liaising with colleagues working in other areas eg, neonatal, mental health services, safeguarding and social care and health visitor services
• Ensure continuity of care is shared and maintained between different hospitals and health care professionals, especially when care may be transferred out of the unit or immediate area
• Understand the needs of grieving and bereaved parents where one or more fetus or baby may not survive. Have the knowledge and skills to support women through the pregnancy, working with bereavement midwives and referring for counselling and other local and national support services as required
• Provide education for women tailored to their specific needs, optimising self-care skills. Support the development of parent education specific to multiple pregnancies.
• Continually organise, plan and develop the maternal medicine services within maternity, in cooperation with the multi-disciplinary team
• Ensure monitoring and audits of quality and effectiveness of care completed and actioned for women with preterm risk factors/multiple pregnancies/women with complex pregnancies within the maternity services. Benchmarking services against Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, CNST Maternity Incentive, MBRACE, CQC and any relevant regional or national reports.
• Review current evidence and update polices and guidelines in line with National standards
• Act as a knowledgeable resource for other healthcare professionals, providing education and advice to raise understanding and awareness about preterm, multiple and complex pregnancies.
• Encourage and support others to develop the skills and confidence necessary to care for women with preterm birth risks and multiple pregnancies within the maternity service.
• Be skilled in having challenging conversations and delivering difficult news
• Empower and educate women and families to make informed decisions, to be aware of their choices and care options
• Ensure women and their partners understand the benefits, risks and choices available for safe effective care and that women can articulate their decisions including possible outcomes
• Be able to demonstrate expert knowledge of treatment regimens during pregnancy and immediate postnatal
• Maintain own professional practice and that of others in line with Nursing and Midwifery Council guidance and specifically in the area of Maternal medicine
• Ensure adherence to the highest possible standards of professional behaviour at all times.
• Personally, update and keep abreast of professional and organisational developments within the NHS and across the public sector and related organisations/sectors
• Keep abreast of legislative changes and policy development ensuring action is taken where appropriate.
• Participate in appropriate professional/developmental groups across the region and nationally in order to develop a community approach and shared good practice.
• The post holder must at all times carry out duties and responsibilities with due regard to equal opportunities policies and procedures.
• The post holder must at all times respect patient confidentiality and, in particular, the confidentiality of electronically stored personal data in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
• The post holder is expected to take responsibility for self-development on a continuous basis, undertaking on-the-job and other training as required.
• The post holder must be aware of individual responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act and identify and report, as necessary, any untoward accident, incident or potentially hazardous environment.
• This job description is intended as an outline of the general areas of activity and will be amended in the light of the changing needs of the organisation