Perinatal Mental Health Specialist Midwife

Job summary
The Perinatal Mental Health Specialist Midwife will:

Support the implementation of effective care pathways for pregnant women and birthing people with mental health conditions at Whittington Health, with a key focus on addressing inequalities in all aspects of care.

Support maternity colleagues in the assessment of risks and vulnerabilities of birthing people with perinatal mental health problems and make relevant and sensitive enquiries to ascertain the need for further action and support (such as liaison with other agencies, onwards referrals, signposting and crisis management, etc)

Act as a an advocate for service users to ensure that plans for women with mental health concerns are communicated to the wider team and that they are followed.

Main duties of the job
Provide specialist perinatal mental health midwifery care and support that is personalised and responds to individual needs and preferences.

Liaise with a wide range of both statutory and non-statutory agencies to provide packages of care for women and their babies, including assessment, planning, care and evaluation.

Contribute to the development of perinatal mental health guidelines and pathways

Work closely with the North Central London and local maternity voice partnerships (MVP), to better understand the needs of women.

Contribute to teaching of midwives, maternity support workers and MDT

To offer personalised support and education to promote safe parenting and reduce inequity and social exclusion.

About us
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.

Job responsibilities
Have competent clinical midwifery skills and ensure appropriate assessment, implementation and evaluation of care is achieved.

Be responsible for planning and coordinating own day-to-day workload in collaboration with the needs of women and their families.

Be a key change agent for vulnerable women and safeguarding children, as well as participating in service development within the maternity unit.

Ensure that all statutory training associated with the post is undertaken.

The post holder will be required to provide consultative advice to other agencies and to participate in delivering training and development for other professionals

Person Specification
Knowledge and Qualification
Essential

• NMC Registered midwife (RM)
• Demonstrating ongoing professional development including non-mandatory courses and qualifications
• Knowledge of current research / reports / guidelines relating to maternity care and their implication
• Demonstrates enhanced knowledge of perinatal mental health and complex social factors

Desirable

• Involvement in participating in the production of evidence-based guidelines / policies

Experience
Essential

• Person-centred approach to care
• Previous comprehensive midwifery experience- at least 3 years post qualification
• Expert knowledge and clinical experience of safeguarding and midwifery in all areas of the maternity service

Desirable

• Have worked in a multi-agency approach
• Involvement with clinical audit and research, including implementation and review

Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Able to carry out the full range of midwifery skills in accordance with job description
• Independently manage own time and workload while working as part of an MDT
• Excellent communication skills with ability to adapt to meet individual needs and preferences and ensure understanding
• Consistently act as a role model and resource for all members of the MDT
• Evidence of working in Trauma Informed ways, including being able to respond to people in distress in sensitive ways

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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).