Perinatal Pelvic Health Midwife

Job overview

6 months Fixed-term  contract - 18.75 hours per week

Base: St Peter’s Hospital and Riverbourne Health Club (Chertsey) with requirement to work across both St Peter’s and Ashford Hospital sites to fulfil the role.

An opportunity has arisen to recruit a Perinatal Pelvic Health Midwife to support a high quality and inclusive perinatal service at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. The successful applicant will work alongside the Trust's supportive and friendly specialist Physiotherapy, Midwifery and Obstetric teams and will be expected to work closely with the wider Perinatal MDT to help implement national perinatal service guidance.

They will provide enhanced support for those at higher risk aiming to reduce obstetric injury risks during childbirth and ensure quality wound care, whilst contributing to the design of a programme to enhance midwifery training on this.

They will demonstrate an in-depth understanding of pelvic health dysfunction, including incontinence, prolapse, urinary retention, anal sphincter injury implications and perineal suturing best practices.

For further details please contact: Joanna Doumouchtsi, Consultant Midwife for Public Health - [email protected] Rebecca Rothwell, Clinical Specialist Pelvic Health Physiotherapist - [email protected]

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be the lead Midwifery Practitioner for Perinatal Pelvic health.

They will demonstrate an in-depth understanding of pelvic health dysfunction, including incontinence, prolapse, urinary retention, anal sphincter injury implications and perineal suturing best practices.

The individual will work in conjunction with the trust specialist physiotherapy, midwifery and obstetric teams, to achieve the objectives of the national PPHS programme and Service Specification. These overarching objectives are:

• To embed evidence-based practice in antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care to prevent and mitigate pelvic health problems resulting from pregnancy and childbirth.
• To improve the rate of identification of pelvic health problems antenatally and postnatally.
• To ensure timely access to NICE-recommended conservative treatment for common pelvic health problems antenatally and at least 12 months postnatally in inpatient and outpatient settings.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

• Following appropriate training and once competent, to be professionally and legally independently responsible for a caseload of patients with pelvic health conditions. This will include initial assessment and follow up, with recommendation for the best course of intervention, treatment, and management, with comprehensive discharge or appropriate onward referral. These assessments will require competent skills in vaginal and anorectal examinations and the ability to prescribe an individualised and progressive pelvic floor muscle training programme, for which training will be provided.
• To have specialist expertise in the management of perineal wounds and to contribute to the design of a programme to enhance midwifery training of the management of wound breakdown and complications.
• Contribute to the implementation of the National patient self-assessment questionnaire tool (PPHSAQ) for identification of pelvic health dysfunction in the antenatal pathway.
• To contribute to staff training on specialist teaching sessions as part of the mandatory training syllabus
• Keep up to date with clinical developments, analysing current research, discussing and implementing changes in clinical practice
• Participate in QI projects and communicate findings to other professionals within the team, and make recommendations for change.

Professional

• Maintain up to date knowledge of research and development in pelvic health care and proactively support all members of the maternity and pelvic health physiotherapy team with any new clinical guidance.
• Be involved in data collection during any research and audits being undertaken within physiotherapy where appropriate and be able to monitor and implement change

Managerial

• Support in the development of the ASPH Perinatal Pelvic Health Service
• Act as a Perinatal Pelvic Health Midwife resource for midwives and pelvic health physiotherapists.
• Act as an effective role model and expert clinician for Perinatal Pelvic Health

Project and Change Management

• Work collaboratively with key health care professionals and service users to design, develop and deliver a Perinatal Pelvic Health Service for ASPH.
• Utilise audit and other tools to evaluate the service, with reference to key performance indicators and patient experience, making recommendations for change in practice and development to meet the needs of the local population.
• Champion best practices for intrapartum mitigation of OASI
• Maintain the Ashford and St Peters OASI tracker (Excel

Education and Training

• Support midwives to develop their suturing competencies.
• Support midwives and obstetricians to prevent obstetric and anal sphincter injuries and if it happens, to identify them and manage them appropriately and provide quality wound care.
• Staff training to introduce a baseline self-assessment of pelvic health around booking and ensuring understanding, adoption and adherence to Pelvic Floor Muscle training (PFMT)

Service improvement

• To work collaboratively with key health care professionals and service users to design, develop and deliver a Perinatal Pelvic Health Service for ASPH.
• Utilise audit and other tools to evaluate the service, with reference to key performance indicators and patient experience, making recommendations for change in practice and development to meet the needs of the local population.
• Data is collected and analysed according to ethnicity and indices of deprivation

Communications and Engagement

• Provide a high level of communication between the ward/clinic/community teams and all members of the perinatal pelvic health MDT.· Develop and maintain communication with people about complex matters or difficult situations for example receiving or giving sensitive information and complexities.
• Engage key maternity and community stakeholders
• Promote and embed the Perinatal Pelvic Health Midwife within Maternity and the community

General responsibilities

• Maintain and develop current research-based professional knowledge and competence in accordance with the NMC legislation and national recommendations.
• Promote and provide positive leadership including motivation of other staff.
• Liaise effectively with the professional midwifery advocate team and other professional leaders in relation to expected standards of practice.
• To observe the rules, policies, procedures and standards of the Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust as well as the statutory and professional obligations stated above.