Perinatal Mental Health Specialist Midwife

Perinatal Mental Health Specialist Midwife

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

An opportunity has arisen for an experienced midwife to support the perinatal mental health team on a 12 months secondment.

You will be responsible for providing extra support and care to some pregnant women with more severe mental health problems, in partnership with their own midwife and the specialist perinatal mental health team. You will work closely with women and their families to plan and coordinate their care based on their individual needs.

Main duties of the job

• Support, assist and advise women with, or at risk of, perinatal mental illness and their families to supplement the care provided by their midwives where necessary, for example working with women and their midwives to develop individual care plans, and making referrals to additional specialist support where required.
• Act as an advocate for women to ensure they get the specialist mental health care they need.
• Liaise with mental health services, and other services and partner agencies to ensure that women with severe mental illness are receiving active and effective care. This includes a close working relationship with the safeguarding team.
• Ensure research findings relevant to mental health are integrated into the practices and policies of the hospital. Encourage and take an active role in the evaluation of new approaches to practice.
• Maintain accurate and contemporaneous records of patients assessments, care and plans.

Leadership and Collaborative Practice

• Understand the impact of poor maternal mental health on infants and other family members, and the role that maternity services can play in mitigating this.
• Develop and maintain a basic working knowledge of mental health legislation, policy and guidance.
• Provide a link between midwives, GPs, health visitors, obstetricians, specialist mental health services, safeguarding services (where applicable) and other agencies in relation to the care of pregnant women and new mothers with mental health problems.
• Develop comprehensive care pathways for women and families affected by mild, moderate and severe maternal mental health problems in active collaboration with specialist perinatal mental health services and other providers of health services (e.g. GPs, Health visitors, IAPT services, 3rd sector organisations).

Please see attached job description and person specification to this advert for further details.

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

• Registered Midwife
• Degree or diploma in Midwifery or related subject
• Evidence of post-registration education
• Teaching and assessing/mentorship qualification
• Additional qualification in mental health counselling

Experience

• Substantial recent experience of working as a Registered Midwife
• Experience of working with women with complex needs
• Evidence of an interest in developing specialist knowledge in the area of women's mental health
• Proven leadership skills
• Evidence of delivering high quality teaching to staff groups
• Experience of working across a variety of midwifery settings
• Recent experience of research and audit

Skills and knowledge

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Evidence of ability to influence and motivate others
• Management/ organizational / prioritization skills
• Ability to work autonomously and independently
• Computer literate: able to use word, email, excel and manage databases
• Ability to recognize the contribution of members of the MDT

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.

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Queen Mary Maternity Unit, West Middlesex University Hospital

£51,883 to £58,544 a year per annum incl. HCAS.

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Job share, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Reference number

289-SC-2374

Job locations

Queen Mary Maternity Unit, West Middlesex University Hospital