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Press release: Midwives spend more time with women and babies thanks to new support worker role03 Apr 2006 Midwives are spending more quality time with new mothers and their babies thanks to the introduction of a new type of support worker, according to a report out today. Maternity support workers: enhancing the work of the maternity team, published by NHS Employers, follows a 10-month programme in which over 50 NHS trusts across England appointed and trained maternity support workers to take on clerical and minor clinical duties traditionally undertaken by midwives. This freed up midwives to spend more time with the women who needed them most. The programme showed that some midwives could save up to 64% of their time each week by handing over simple duties to appropriately trained and supervised support workers. Midwives were then able to use the time saved to give more effective care. Midwives found they could give greater continuity of care to mothers, provide more support for higher risk and vulnerable women, reduce clinic waits and provide greater access to home births and antenatal care. NHS Employers Deputy Director Alastair Henderson said: "Introducing maternity support workers has had a huge impact on the experience of new mothers. We've had a great response from people who have used these services saying they feel better supported, not just during labour, but afterwards with breastfeeding. "Introducing the role of maternity support worker has also made a big difference to the working lives of midwives, enabling them to spend more time with mothers and babies and feel that they are giving a better service. It has also given new roles and responsibilities to the people who are employed as maternity support workers helping them to feel that they are a valued member of the team. This is helping to recruit and retain staff in the NHS. "Introducing the role of maternity support worker is an excellent example of how workforce modernisation can improve services for patients." Liam Byrne, Care Services Minister said: "Eighty per cent of women say that they are happy with maternity services and infant mortality in England is at an all time low. But we need to go further in making maternity a world class service." Working as part of the team, appropriately trained and supervised maternity support workers are able to carry out a range of duties including: clerical work, supporting women in early labour under the guidance of a midwife, carrying out blood and urine tests, helping to run glucose tolerance testing clinics, supporting women with breastfeeding, helping to run parent craft classes and reducing lone working by attending community visits with midwives.
Rachel Ambler, Consultant Midwife at The Whittington Hospitals NHS Trust said: "Having our two maternity support workers has been a huge success. At first our midwives were a bit sceptical but now they're asking if they can have another one. Both the breastfeeding support group and baby massage class are always well attended and I'm sure the mums appreciate the extra support they receive. "We've had healthcare assistants and support workers before. But now we've been able to train them to take on roles, like breastfeeding support and parent education, which takes a lot of time but which really doesn't need a midwife to do it. It means the mums get more support and the midwives have more time to do other things. "When I first went on the maternity support worker programme, I thought I knew all there was to know about support workers as I previously worked in a trust where they were used extensively - but I was wrong. I learnt so much by exchanging ideas with midwives in other hospitals, learning how to develop job roles that use specific skills and knowledge and even how to put in funding bids for posts." The maternity support worker programme was commissioned by the Care Services Improvement Partnership in 2005 and delivered by the Large Scale Workforce Change Team, which is part of NHS Employers. The team runs several programmes a year, helping and encouraging NHS trusts to try new ways of working. The team is currently running programmes on reducing agency staffing costs, children's services and services for people with long-term conditions. Related publicationsMaternity support workers: enhancing the work of the maternity team (503 kB PDF) Notes for editors
Contact detailsThe press office provides a comprehensive service to keep journalists informed about the work of NHS Employers. If you have a media enquiry, please contact the press office team:
For out of hours media enquiries, please contact the duty press officer on 07880 500726. Last reviewed 4 Apr 2006 |
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