Maternity Care Assistant

The key duties for the maternity care assistant role focus on developing positive relationships with women and their families, respecting their wishes with compassion and empathy. The postholder must deliver trustworthy, woman-centred care, promptly report concerns or errors. Emphasis is placed on understanding team roles and contributing effectively to team working.

General duties include administrative tasks such as managing clinical records. The postholder is expected to maintain professionalism, challenge discrimination, promote equality, and uphold legal and ethical responsibilities.

Training responsibilities involve attending mandatory sessions, developing skills and knowledge, participating in appraisals, and supporting trainees. Ensuring a safe environment is vital, including hazard checks, equipment maintenance, infection prevention, and incident reporting.

Additional responsibilities cover assisting in obstetric and neonatal emergencies, supporting health promotion and screening activities, and understanding relevant mental health policies. The role includes promoting physical and emotional wellbeing and escalating concerns as needed.

Infant feeding duties require supporting breastfeeding and formula feeding and promoting skin-to-skin contact and responsive feeding.

The primary role of the Maternity Care Assistant is to assist, support and work in collaboration with the midwife and the wider

multidisciplinary team; to provide a safe and holistic approach to women centred care.

The midwife is ultimately responsible for the care

of the mother and her new-born(s), and itis under the direct or indirect supervision of the

midwife that the MCA assists with and provides personal care following completion of any

relevant or appropriate training. The

post is rotational and the employee will be provided

with appropriate training for the clinicalsetting in which they are working. These settings

include antenatal inpatient care, intrapartum inpatient care and postnatal

inpatient care.

The post holder is expected to undertake a set of

defined competencies. This job description is directly

linked to The Maternity Support WorkerCompetency, Education and career Development

Framework set out by Health EducationEngland.

Develops and maintains positive

relationships, respects the womans and herfamilies wishes, with kindness, compassion and empathy.

Should be trustworthy, provide woman centred care and support, and takeownership for mistakes by reporting concerns or errors to a registered

practitioner ina timely manner.

Recognises the Maternity Care

Assistants scope of practice within nationalframeworks

Understands main principles of

team working and can define their own role and roleof others.

Keeps complete, clear, accurate and timely records.

Provide administrative support to the maternity team.

Attitudes and responsibilities

Convey an approachable and professional manner to all mothers and their

families

Demonstrates an awareness of discriminatory attitudes and challenges this

behaviour,with reference to age, disability, gender

reassignment, marriage, civilpartnership, pregnancy, race, religion, sex

and sexual orientation.

Is aware of legal and ethical responsibilities in relation to own role

including the needto work in ways agreed by the employer

Does not project own experiences and values onto other and demonstratesunderstanding of own role and contribution in

creating inclusive, equitable care

Is aware of organisational aims, objectives, policies and values that relate to

the MCArole

Recognizes the importance of maintaining own health, wellbeing and resilience

toensure that personal performance and

judgement is not affected by ill-health

Ensure that knowledge of local safeguarding policy and procedure is maintained.

Understands and follows principles of safeguarding and protection and adheres

tolocal security procedures.

Attend all statutory and mandatory training as and when required.

Maintains and develops own skills and knowledge with training accessed whererequired. Keeps evidence of personal

development, prepares for and participates inappraisal

Participate in annual individual performance review process, whereby objectives

willbe agreed, performance monitored, and

personal development needs discussed.

Is always welcoming and takes an interest in the education and development ofTrainee Maternity Care assistants and Trainee

Maternity Support workers inacquiring skills and knowledge.

Ensure own actions promote a positive and safe environment. This includeschecking the clinical area for hazards,

ensuring the working order of equipment,reporting

any concerns, faults or breakages to the appropriate person in a timelymanner.

Demonstrates the ability to respond flexibly to needs of the working

environment

Demonstrates safe and evidence-based practice in all skills and procedures

statedwithin job description

Ensure that each woman feels safe and knows how to access support if required

Uses a range of techniques for infection prevention and control. Using PPE asrequired.

Act responsibly in respect of colleagues health, safety and welfare following

safetyat work guidance and protocol.

Ensure the cleanliness of equipment in all clinical and non-clinical areas and

assistthe midwife in appropriately preparing the

birthing environment.

Ensure adequate stock levels are maintained in all clinical settings, and

equipment isavailable; escalate any depletion of stock or

resources in a timely manner.

Assist in stocking up and cleaning all home birth team equipment if required.

Report any incidents using the local risk management reporting system and

escalatesuch incidents appropriately and in a timely

manner. To ensure they are followinglocal health and safety guidance

Understands the importance of following standard operating procedures,

protocols,policies and guidelines to promote safety

Understands the importance of courage and candour, recognizing and reportingbehaviours or errors that could result in

poor outcomes for women and their families

Supports audit and service improvement initiatives and keeps up to date withchanges in policy and practice

of the Woman

Escort women and their families between clinical areas as required

Assist with the admission, orientation and discharge of women and their babies

inaccordance with local policy and guidance.

Communicate respectfully, effectively and timely manner when speaking with

womenand the wider MDT, utilising verbal and

non-verbal skills

Understand and gains valid consent prior to action or providing care.

Manages delegated tasks effectively and in a timely manner for which they have received

training, ensuring basic care needs for women

and babies are met. Reportscompletion of tasks and any finding to an

appropriate practitioner

Assists in effective care planning and evaluation by sharing relevant

information in atimely manner with members of the MDT

Understands the benefits of continuity of carer and how this applies within own

role

Recognizes and responds to signs of discomfort and anxiety or concerns raised

bypromptly reporting them to an appropriate

practitioner

Support women during clinical procedures and act as chaperone when requested todo so by the midwifery or obstetric team.

Shares knowledge and teaches skills that empower women and their families tosafely and effectively care for themselves

Provide support with personal care to labouring women if asked to do so, and

underthe supervision of the midwife.

Assist in the maintenance and understand the principles of good bladder care,

suchand hydration and to document accurately the

fluid balance.

Assist in the nutrition needs of women

surgical procedures under direction of the midwife.

Notices vulnerability, changing or additional needs and reports these to a

suitably qualified colleague to take forward

Acts sensitively, compassionately and respectfully in situations where the

family unitis separated e.g. if mother/baby are

critically ill. Make sure the family members areupdated with accurate information by the

appropriate team member

Ensures tasks that separate families are kept to a minimum and are carried out

withkindness and empathy

Acts sensitively, compassionately and respectfully during times of bereavement

andloss and follows care plans within scope of

their role

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large

acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute

services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a

larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from

three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester

Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our

caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred

care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to

work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our

everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Being open and honest

Ensuring people feel cared for

Showing respect to everyone

We are committed to developing a culture of continuous improvement by embedding the principles of our Improvement System.

We are proud to have achieved Timewise

accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working

within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a

DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check

(at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting

Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.

Knowledge and skills

Desirable: - Understanding of Safeguarding issues; - Understanding of the role and own professional boundaries

Qualifications

Desirable: - Care certificate

Experience