What are the duties of a maternity nurse?

  • Having your own business and being your own boss
  • Flexible working hours
  • Can fit around family commitments
  • Well paid
  • Rewarding job – making a change to people’s lives and children’s development
  • Working with a variety of people and situations

  • A Maternity nurse provides essential support to parents with new-born babies, typically for up to six weeks following the birth. Your role is to ensure the family settles into life with their new-born and offer guidance and encouragement throughout. This may also include helping parents integrate the new-born with other children in the family.The role of a Maternity Nurse is growing evermore popular with parents looking for support and guidance following the birth of a new-borns.

  • The role of a Maternity Nurse can be very diverse, however, here are some responsibilities you can expect when working as a non-medical Maternity Nurse.
  • • Provide care for the mother and baby • Educating parents on best practices • Providing advice on feeding • Bathing the baby • Putting the baby to sleep • Sorting out clothes and clothing the baby • Maintaining the nursery • Updating records • Establishing routines and making recommendations to the parents

    • Provide parents with respite when required.

  • Good listener • Good communicator • Empathetic • Passionate • Motivated

    • Calm under pressure

This is your business and it is up you what your fees are. Things to consider when looking at your prices are:

• What do you need to earn to make this a viable business? • What is your competition? If there isn’t much you can usually charge more for your services.

• Make sure you cover any costs you have. Although costs are minimal, you should make sure you cover any costs within your price such as travel expenses and running costs such as a website or printed flyers.

Nurses specialize, just like doctors. The list of options, Gwynedd Mercy University says, includes cardiac nurse, anesthetist, E/R nursing, geriatric nursing and maternity care. Working with mothers having a difficult labor or a miscarriage requires a lot of compassion and strength, but there's no joy like helping new life into the world.

Maternity nurses provide support for pregnant women, new moms and babies. That includes being there for the joys of birth and the tragedy of miscarriage. RNs handle more planning of care and less hands-on work than an LPN.

A maternity nurse, Registered Nurse RN says, works with mothers and newborn babies, providing both pre and post-birth care. As a maternity nurse, you provide not only care but information: expectant mothers and their families want to know what to expect, whether there are problems and how the problems can be fixed. If the pregnancy miscarries, nurses provide support and medical assistance.

The duties and responsibilities of maternity ward nurses vary, Inner Body says, depending on whether you're a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or registered nurse (RN). LPNs often run point in dealing with the patients, taking vital signs, assisting with procedures and handling paperwork. The maternity nurse job description for RNs places more emphasis on planning and organizing care in the ward.

Cosmopolitan says working with mothers is exhilarating but it's also exhausting. Emotions and worries run high in patients and their families and you'll be immersed in them for much of your shift. You may have to lock horns with mothers whose birthing plan doesn't match their medical needs. Good people skills, compassion and emotional stability are a must. Physically, you'll work long shifts, often on your feet, and come home exhausted.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says RNs need either a bachelor's degree in nursing, an associate degree or a diploma from a nursing program. Many employers may insist on a bachelor's degree. Some RNs go back to school after getting their license. Some new nurses with bachelor's degrees in other fields apply to an accelerated nursing program.

After completing a nursing program, you'll need to apply for an RN license from the state in which you work. To become licensed, you have to pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN). Licensing requires a criminal background check except, PreCheck says, for Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Wisconsin.

If maternity nursing is what you want, focus on it in medical school. Study up on the subject and volunteer in maternity wards before you graduate. After you graduate, you may want to study for a maternity certification. This isn't mandatory the way passing the NCLEX is, but it shows your commitment and knowledge.

Salary.com says a maternity RN averages ​$86,635,​ with the main salary range between ​$77,719​ and ​$99,038​. Ten percent earn below ​$69,601​ and 10 percent above ​$110,331​. Where you fit within that range will depend on multiple factors including education, experience, whether you've acquired any certifications and where in the country you're working.

A maternity nurse is a professional, usually a nurse who will be the first professional carer, other than the parents, when a child is born.

A maternity nurse is on duty 24 hours a day six or seven days a week.

They care for newborn babies and are considered an invaluable help to new parents. They are skilled and experienced in newborn care and in supporting, teaching and empowering new parents. Additionally, they provide the opportunity for the new parents to rest and recover after birth.

Depending on location a maternity nurse may be a nurse that helps with the obstetrics care when giving birth or it may be where you are employed as a help for a family with their newborn at home.

Maternity nurses may also referred to often as post-natal carers or newborn specialists.

What is a Maternity Nurse?

A maternity nurse’s role is to help new parents, particularly new mothers in all aspects of caring for the newborn.

It includes tips on successful breast feeding to establishing a routine to bathing to helping mum get back on her feet after giving birth and provide support and guidance to build confidence in the new parents.

Maternity nurses generally sleep with their charges (the baby) and either bring baby to mum for breast feeding during the night or bottle feed the babies without waking the mum so that the mother has a chance to recover from the birth.

The maternity nurse is there to provide the mother with a sense of security during those physically and mentally exhausting first few weeks after childbirth.

For those mothers who don’t have family support close at hand or who have had twins or a cesarean it can be an invaluable help. A comforting presence and a willing pair of hands at 3 am can make an enormous difference.

What qualifications does a Maternity Nurse have?

There is no single qualification that is accepted as a maternity nurse.

Having said that, to become a maternity nurse you are required to have a qualification (most have a Nursing qualification) and (preferably) experience with newborns.

Each position varies and a family may employ a maternity nurse that has early years qualifications with specific newborn experience, however typically a maternity nurse will be just as the title implies, a nurse (normally a paediatric nurse) or midwife.

What is the role of a Maternity Nurse?

As with any role that involves caring for a child/newborn it will be dictated by the individual family situation and the position itself, however there is a set of broad specific tasks that a maternity nurse is generally employed to do.

These include:

  • Health and care of newborns.
  • Colic and reflux assistance.
  • Education on safety and prevention such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
  • Sleep and the newborn.
  • Establishing routines.
  • Health and care of post-natal mothers.
  • Breastfeeding guidance and support.
  • Day-to-day tasks such as laundry, the baby’s room, etc.
  • Supervision of the baby.
  • Overall support, guidance and education for the new parents.

What are the wages and hours?

The wage depends on the location, number of children (including if there are multiples such as triplets, twins), experience, qualification and so on as well as what the position actually entails. All these factors will influence and alter the wage.

We are able to give you a guide as an example.

A maternity nurse in Australia can expect around:

24 hour care with a single baby: $230- $270/day or pay ranging from $1200-2000+ per week in Australia.

A maternity nurse in the UK can expect around:

24 hour care with a single baby: £180-£280 (£950-£1900 per week)
24 hour care with multiple births: £230-£380 (£1000 – £2100+ per week).

Maternity nurses are generally self employed, which means you are responsible for your tax (and insurance).

As it is a short term contract you also generally do not have the same rights as you would as an employee i.e. sick pay, holiday pay, etc unless it is stipulated in your contract or agreed upon before commencement of the position.

Additional points

  • It seems ridiculously obvious, but you must love, be experienced and comfortable with newborn babies. They have their fair share of tribulations and are extremely demanding.
  • You need to have the patience to mother the exhausted and daunted mother who may feel exasperated at the screaming and permanently hungry angel she has just spent hours painfully bringing into the world. You will need to be able to deal with the range of emotions that the mother experiences and may inflict upon you.
  • It can be an unsettling job for your routine as you are on call with family 24 hour/day, in their house and it can be for anything up to three months. Every time your job changes so does your home and if this would unnerve you then this is probably not for you. Others may find this exciting and challenging.
  • Although you are there for 24 hours a day, it does not mean that you are awake and working every second of every day. Often you are given 2-3 hours break per 24 hour period to rest. It does, however, mean that you are pretty much on call for that time. It can be laborious and although it’s only for a limited amount of time, does require substantial stamina. It means you do not have an everyday life for that period but also means you can chose the positions that fit into your life.
  • The mothers who employ maternity nurses either do so because they really need help or often because they are first time mothers who need your guidance and reassurance. It can be a very rewarding position but can also be draining and exhausting.
  • It requires a large degree of sensitivity as you need to respect their privacy and the emotions they will be experiencing at this time.