Rebecca Shaw

My key responsibilities as a Maternity Assistant Practitioner are to work collaboratively and in partnership as an integral part of the midwifery team. I champion women and families – valuing them, challenging them and inspiring change to support positive bonding and attachment and when appropriate, sign posting to therapeutic support services available.

I teach antenatal education to families in group settings within the community or if preferred within families own home on a one-to-one basis. Topics promoted and discussed are bonding and attachment and the importance of supporting their babies brain development in order to develop strong and healthy relationships.

Facilitated care and engagement of pregnant women, people and families in their maternity care journey through inclusive and holistic approaches, actively listening and valuing their input from conception until transfer of care to the Healthy Families Team.

Whilst I mainly focus in supporting families within the Small Steps Big Changes (SSBC) wards of Nottingham to help in reducing the higher rates of health inequalities within these areas, I also back the wider midwifery teams to support families living outside of the wards and encourage shared decision-making for aspects of their maternity care journey. I support and encourage women and families to complete and update their personalised care and support plans which enables me to triage and assess, allowing me to make referrals to the perinatal mental health team, Early Help Services, The PHEW group, The NSPCC Child In Mind Programme and Healthy Little Minds to ensure families receive the right support at the right time. I caseload families who require additional support due to experiencing difficulties either prior to or following the birth of their baby.

Utilised diverse techniques to motivate clients, enhancing participation in the Healthy Start scheme and immunisation programme to address health inequalities in SSBC wards and surrounding areas.

Collaborated with families to identify signs of antenatal and postnatal anxiety, depression, and PTSD, and connected them with early help and support by making referrals to appropriate internal and external agencies.

Developed and implemented personalised care and support plans, ensuring adherence to the NHS Long-Term Plan for consistent and safe care delivery.

Maintained accurate, contemporaneous and confidential records while executing administrative duties within the midwifery team. Acted within NUH and local safeguarding boards' child protection procedures, promptly referring concerns regarding child protection, domestic abuse, or safeguarding to appropriate individuals or agencies, collaborating with other health and social care professionals as part of the MDT.

I attend mandatory training updates as instructed and provide advice in line with local clinical guidelines and those of NICE and the Department of Health, maintaining my knowledge of current evidence-based practice.

My role as MSW included being the frontline of a family's journey through pregnancy, childbirth and the first few days of birth.

Typical duties included:

• Facilitation of antenatal education sessions to prepare families for the birthing process and early parenthood.
• Bonding and attachment to support infant brain development and healthy relationships
• Infant Feeding support inline with NICE and UNICEF guidelines
• Assisted with antenatal checks and screenings, resulting in early detection of potential complications.
• Perinatal mental health support and signposting internal and external agencies
• Undertaking of newborn blood spot screening inline with NHS England
• Managed escalation of cases to senior staff when situations required additional attention or intervention.
• Working as part of the MDT
• Following trust values and behaviours policies by conducting myself professionally at all times.