A Maternity Support Worker - Assignment Example

Introduction A maternity support worker, also known as a maternity healthcare support worker, is one who helps midwives provide care to women and their babies before, during and after childbirth. They work under the supervision of midwives. Their roles and responsibilities include making routine observations such as temperature, pulse, blood pressure, breathing and so on, sharing information on condition of mother and babies with the midwives, taking blood samples for tests, maintaining stock levels of stationery and equipment, preparing equipment, cleaning up after sessions, providing women with support that enable them look after themselves and their children on their own, assist in delivering care plans help with parenting lessons, ensure smooth flow of operations, collect data, keep and update records amongst others (Abingdon: Radcliffe Medical, 39). A maternity support worker normally works for approximately 37.5 hours a week on a shift or rota system including nights, bank holidays and weekends with flexible and part time hours available. Those that work in communities usually spend their time moving between patients and families. Others work in acute post-natal wards, maternity theatre, delivery suite or midwifery led units. Maternity support care and the work of maternity support workers basically entail antenatal care, intra-partum care and postpartum care for women and babies. Antenatal care is care present/ occurring before birth or during pregnancy. It is an important period for future parents to seek support and advice, explore their expectations as future parents, their fears, concerns and questions. However, this period is characterized by depression, commonly called antenatal depression/ prenatal depression. Couples are advised and helped about their depression in antenatal classes to prepare them for the possibility of antenatal and postnatal depression. During such sessions, expectant parents are informed that antenatal and postnatal depressions can happen to any mother or father, are no one’s fault, are taught about the early signs and informed of available help. The healthcare worker in the antenatal stage monitors the women and their relations closely to identify any signs of depression knowing of the fact that most women mask those feelings. This is done for instance by asking the right questions./ antenatal depression can be a precursor to postpartum depression if not tackled. Tackling these depressions help make childbirth and early parenting easy as any stress felt by mother can have negative effects on fetal development which can injure both mother and child. Factors leading to antenatal depression may be unplanned pregnancy, history of abuse, difficulty becoming pregnant, economic issues, family constraints, relationship with the father, and jobs and responsibilities. Some of the signs and symptoms of antenatal depression are inability to concentrate, difficulty remembering, feeling emotionally numb, sleep problems not related to pregnancy, extreme/ unending fatigue, extreme irritability, a sense of fear about everything, lack of feeding interest or desire to overfeed, feelings of failure/ guilt, persistent sadness, loss of sexual desire, weight loss or gain unrelated to pregnancy, inability to get excited about the baby and form or feel a bond with the baby and thoughts of suicide/ death. Treatment for antenatal depression involves first tackling of the emotional aspect for example through stress management, talking openly about fears and anxieties surrounding the pregnancy, relaxing mind and body, and spending time with partner. Treatment can also be through counseling which is highly effective as it enables mother to freely express herself and assists physician to gauge her level of depression and the way to it. In severe cases of depression, medication like Tri-cyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are prescribed (Ricci, Susan and Kyle, 75). Antenatal care also contains recommendations regarding smoking during pregnancy and guidelines on how to quit/ reduce smoking during pregnancy and following childbirth. For instance, NICE guideline 1.3.10.7 states that women who are unable to quit smoking during pregnancy should be encouraged to reduce smoking. Mothers-to-be should have just one maternity support worker or midwife throughout their pregnancy to increase chances of the maternity worker knowing them very well through regular contact and interaction. Obese pregnant women are given special advice for healthy eating and exercise during the antenatal stage. Intra-partum care on the other hand is the medical care of or relating to childbirth or delivery for healthy women who are giving birth at term (37-42 weeks). Intra-partum care by midwives and maternity support worker amongst other things involves aspects of planning place of birth, gauging time of birth, care throughout labor (ensuring communication, mobilization and positioning of about-to-be mother, eating and drinking during labor, hygiene labor and delivery), non-epidural coping with labor pains (pain relief and strategies, non-pharmacological analgesia inhalational analgesia, intravenous and intramuscular use of opioids for labor regional analgesia and its timing, care and observation of women with regional analgesia), fetal heart assessment, intervention to reduce perineal trauma, treatment for women with retained placenta and immediate care of newborn (Ricci, Susan and Kyle, 57). Postpartum period/ postnatal period/puerperium (puerperal period) is the period beginning immediately after childbirth and extending for approximately six weeks during which the mother’s hormonal level and uterus size return to a normal non-pregnant state. During this period, mother is checked for bleeding, bowel and bladder function, checked for tears (saturated if need be), management of constipation and hemorrhoids, bladder assessed for infection or retention, mental health of both mother and child checked and any muscular problems noted (Abingdon: Radcliffe Medical, 68). Postpartum period ensures a mother is in good condition to look after new born and equips her with such useful knowledge. Other complications during this period may include Sheehan’s syndrome, peripartum cardiomyopathy, urinary incontinence, postpartum depression, post traumatic stress disorder and even puerperal psychosis. Postpartum depression is deadly and once symptoms are observed, it is treated as a medical emergency and mother and baby hospitalized due to suicide risks or infanticide. It interferes with mother’s ability to care for the baby arising in behavioral problems, delays in cognitive development, social and emotional problems. A maternity support worker is expected to advise a depressed mother to open up and talk about her feelings and not bottle them up in herself, make relationships a priority, ease back into exercise, get out in the sunshine, make meals a priority, set aside quality time for self and not skimp on sleep (Ricci, Susan and Kyle, 70). During the course, some of the ways I noted that would aid in improving my skills as a maternity support worker included undertaking in proper training in infection control, breastfeeding support, risk management, child protection, health and safety, psychology and such related fields. This would also require dedication and completion of these and other supervised training programs. Working towards vocational qualifications such as level 3 diplomas in clinical healthcare support and level 3 diplomas in maternity and pediatric support would also go a long way in sharpening my skill in this work. Another way of enhancing my skills in this field is by working closely and frequently with midwives and experienced support workers to continually accrue more knowledge, skill and experience. I could also enroll in communication skill classes to sharpen further my communication skills which are vital in this work. Some of the things that will help me in my practice as maternity support worker include my good communication and listening skills, my good training and mastery of subject in the field/ my good standard of education, a positive, caring, supportive and enthusiastic attitude, an understanding of the importance of good relations with patients and visitors, commitment to training personal and professional development, good teamwork skills and the ability to work alone, excellent time management, empathy, ability to varied shift patterns and also the ability to react appropriately to urgent situations. Teamwork is important in maternity care and its presence amongst staff minimizes mistakes that are costly an at times life threatening especially from the inexperienced and newly recruited personnel. Works Cited Implementing NICE guidance a practical handbook for professionals. Abingdon: Radcliffe Medical, 2001, 34-72. Print Ricci, Susan Scott, and Terri Kyle. Maternity and pediatric nursing. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009. Print: 56-78, 115-120. Print Read More