Maternity Support Worker - Birth Unit, Band 3

NHS; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking a dedicated Maternity Support Worker to join their team in Gloucester. In this role, you will assist midwives in providing high-quality care to mothers and newborns. This position offers opportunities for training and development, supporting staff to thrive in a compassionate environment. The ideal candidate will be passionate about patient care and possess strong communication skills.

Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE grade C or above in literacy and numeracy.
• A Level 3 qualification in maternity support or willingness to undertake this qualification.
• Experience in a hospital environment preferred.

Responsibilities

• Support registered midwives in delivering healthcare to women and birthing people.
• Perform checks like blood pressure, temperature, and assist with personal care.
• Work closely with multidisciplinary team and manage patient care effectively.

Skills

Good written and verbal communication skills

Good interpersonal skills

Ability to work flexibly within a team

Ability to handle occasional distressing circumstances

Education

GCSE grade C or above in literacy and numeracy

A Level 3 qualification in maternity support

Job description

Go back Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Maternity Support Worker - Birth Unit, Band 3

The closing date is 07 July 2025

We are looking for dedicated, hardworking individuals who are passionate about providing the best care for mothers and their families.

The post holder will provide support to the midwifery team in Gloucester Birth Unit, as well as to mothers and their families. Working across the inpatient maternity areas, the post holder will support the midwife to provide newborn and early postnatal care. We will support the post holder to achieve this with the necessary training.

The post-holder will work closely with the multi-disciplinary team, including midwives, doctors, and fellow support workers, so the ability to work well within a team is vital.

This role will include shift-working, including 12hr shifts, and a mixture of days, nights, weekends, and bank-holidays in order to provide a 24/7 service to the birthing people of Gloucestershire.

Please note - this vacancy may close before the deadline if we receive enough suitable applications.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will predominantly be working on a midwife-led birth unit, providing care to the women and newborns of Gloucestershire. This is a fast-paced environment, with a dedicated team of midwives and maternity support workers. There may be times when it is necessary for the post-holder to be re-deployed to work on the Delivery Suite, Maternity Ward, or Triage. The initial training of the post holder will prepare them to be able to adapt to working across all areas of the Maternity Unit.

You will be a valued member of the Maternity team delivering personal and clinical care to mothers and babies. You'll also be key in supporting patients with their own self-care and independence.

About us

As our most valuable asset, we understand that happy, fulfilled staff will offer their best, and we aim to achieve this by providing a supportive team approach.

We have a large team comprising midwives, maternity care assistants, maternity support workers and obstetricians, we clearly link in with other members of the wider multidisciplinary team.

We have a comprehensive mandatory training programme including PROMPT as well as many opportunities for you to develop personally. The post-holder will be supported in their role by their fellow MSW's, midwives, and Maternity Matrons.

We recognise that some staff may experience difficult situations. To support them, we have an excellent PMA team who can offer pastoral support to all staff members.

Job responsibilities

You will be supporting registered midwives to deliver high quality, compassionate healthcare to women and birthing people throughout all aspects of the perinatal period. This is a busy but rewarding role, and you will be working together with your team to balance different tasks.

Your daily duties will be varied but may include:

- blood pressure monitoring

- body temperature, pulse rate and respiration rate for both adults and babies

- glucose monitoring for both adults and babies

- collection and testing of urine

- cleaning and preparing rooms before and after births

- removal of urinary catheters

- taking blood samples for both adults and babies

- personal care of women and birthing people

- assisting midwives with weighing blood loss during births

- personal care of babies

- infant feeding

- recording your actions accurately in relevant IT systems.

Working as part of a team and on your own, you will draw from your knowledge, skills and experience to make informed decisions and use your initiative, whilst also knowing when to seek support.

We are passionate about patient experience. We know that some people find coming into hospital difficult. Adapting how you communicate to meet the needs of patients, relatives, carers as well as colleagues with kindness and compassion is fundamental to how we work together at Gloucestershire Hospitals.

You will take care in handling patient and Trust property and may be required to order suppliesand restock.

You will help to support, develop and welcome new colleagues, students and others to your areaof work.

There will be opportunities to develop your knowledge and skills, specific to your needs and area of work. You will also be supported to obtain your care certificate if you do not already have this.

Emily Bridges, Lead Midwife for Gloucester Birth Unit. [e-mail]

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE grade C or above (or equivalent) in literacy and numeracy
• A Level 3 qualification in maternity support (this could be an NVQ, BTEC or equivalent international qualification), or willingness to undertake this qualification

Experience

• Appropriate experience in a hospital environment
• Experience of Trust IT systems

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Good written and verbal communication skills with a good command and understanding of English, punctuation and grammar
• Good interpersonal skills for dealing with people internal and external to the organisation
• Ability to work flexibly within a team
• An excellent professional manner to minimise conflict, resolve queries and maintain the reputation of the organisation when dealing with members of the multi-disciplinary team and members of the public
• Understanding of information governance, confidentiality and data protection
• Ability to read notes, extract data and document accurately on the relevant systems
• Flexible and able to react to changes and methods of working
• Ability to use initiative and sound judgement when providing patient care
• Ability to move patients around the hospital in beds and wheelchairs
• Ability to handle occasional distressing circumstances and assist with providing bereavement care to women and their families

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

£24,625 to £25,674 a year(pro rata if part time)