Safeguarding Midwife

Job responsibilities

An integral part of the Safeguarding Children Team.

Working closely with the wider safeguarding children and adult teams.

Supporting the Specialist Midwife Safeguarding and Named Professionals Safeguarding Children, to deliver the Maternity Safeguarding agenda, across the organisation. Supporting the identification of vulnerability for women, unborn & newborn babies and their families, to ensure early intervention, to improve outcomes.

A child's right centred and Think Family approach to providing safeguarding support, advice and guidance, within maternity.

Work in collaboration with multi-agency partners to ensure robust planning, assessment and risk management, prior to birth.

Complete accurate and robust contemporaneous safeguarding record keeping at all times.

Ensure that there is accurate and timely pre-birth assessment, in order to safeguard and protect vulnerable unborn & newborn babies and their families.

Attendance at multi-agency meetings, including professional meetings, risk management meetings, Strategy meetings, Pre-Discharge Planning Meetings.

Compilation of multi-agency chronologies, applying robust information gathering, risk assessment & providing analysis.

Assisting in the development and provision of Safeguarding Training, which is bespoke to the safeguarding children and maternity safeguarding agenda, and delivered through a variety of methods, utilising current themes from learning and feedback from practitioners.

A sound knowledge and experience in safeguarding, specifically across the maternity footprint and an understanding of the impact of complex social needs and multiple adversity within the childbirth continuing.

Working closely with the multi-disciplinary team and our multi-agency partners to embed evidence-based safeguarding practice and ensure that local and national learning is implemented.

Assist in the collection of robust data pertaining to maternity & safeguarding.

Contributing to audit and quality assurance processes to improve outcomes.

Support and assist the Specialist & Named Safeguarding Midwives in the review and evaluation of safeguarding practice, within maternity.

Demonstrate a robust knowledge of vulnerability assessment, analysis and the importance of individualised decision making.

Demonstrate a robust knowledge and understanding of the key relevant safeguarding legislation.

Demonstrate a robust knowledge and understanding of local and national safeguarding policies and procedures. Support the update and compilation of new policy and procedure.

Supporting the provision of Safeguarding Supervision and reflective discussion within maternity.

Demonstrate an understanding and ability to apply the Signs of Safety framework within practice

Ensure that accurate and meaningful safeguarding contacts/referrals are made, with the support, education and empowerment, for the maternity teams. Demonstrate the ability to seek outcomes of referrals/safeguarding contacts, apply analysis and critical thinking to determine safety, engage in respectful professional challenge/escalation, when appropriate, to ensure that unborn & newborn babies, children, young people and vulnerable families are safeguarded.

Recognising and responding appropriately to Bruising in Non-Mobile Infants, utilising the appropriate pathway to support practitioners.

Recognising and responding appropriately to Domestic Abuse within pregnancy.

A good understanding of the processes regarding Female Genital Mutilation.

Recognising and responding appropriately to concealment of pregnancy.

Support the functions of MARAC & MAPPA, relevant to maternity practice.

Engage in risk assessment, management & planning when appropriate, to respond to risks around violence, identified in other arenas i.e. MARAC, MAPPA, information sharing in MASH/Strategy.

Accurate and timely compilation of Birth Response Plans, to ensure the communication of key information to protect the safety of vulnerable babies, women, families and staff members within the organisation and across the multi-agency.

Demonstrates excellent communication skills within the Maternity Safeguarding Team, the wider organisation and multi-agency partners.

Has a good understanding of the importance of escalation and information sharing within the team, when concerns are identified.

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding, and provide support to practitioners, regarding the Mental Health Act & Mental Capacity Act.

Supports practitioners caring for vulnerable women & their families; applies a sound knowledge regarding consent, Mental Capacity Act assessment, best interest decision-making and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Also has a relevant awareness of Liberty Protection Safeguards.

To support practitioners in the compilation of safeguarding statements and preparation for court.

Support the Specialist & Named Safeguarding Midwives in the implementation of learning from internal incidents, local and nation reviews.

Support the Maternity Safeguarding Team in the development and dissemination of relevant maternity resources, across the maternity agenda.

Demonstrates an understanding and applies skills in conflict resolution.

Maintain a current professional knowledge base and competency level, underpinned by current evidence.

Identify personal development needs and promote personal professional development, by completing relevant reading and attending appropriate courses and study days.

Demonstrate a robust knowledge, understanding and the ability to apply clinical governance standards.

Experience

Essential

• Significant experience working with children and families where there are identified vulnerabilities and safeguarding concerns.
• To have experience in facilitating training in Safeguarding Children or related topics.
• Experience in compiling referrals & making safeguarding contacts.
• Experience in adhering to and completing safeguarding policies and processes.
• Experience in preparing reports and chronologies, for safeguarding meetings.
• Demonstrate experience in safety planning and discharge planning for newborn babies.
• Experience in working with the wider multi-agency teams.
• Experience in identify, assessing and responding to risk.

Desirable

• Experience of responding to complex safeguarding situations.
• Experience of attendance at court

Qualifications

Essential

• 1st level Midwife with a first degree
• Level 3 safeguarding children training. To have attended multi-agency training in Safeguarding Children and related topics.
• Significant safeguarding children knowledge and practical experience.
• Significant maternity safeguarding knowledge and experience
• A Formal adult teaching / training qualification.

Desirable

• Safeguarding children specialist course.
• Safeguarding Adult specialist course
• Safeguarding Children Supervision qualification.

Statutory Registration

Essential

• NMC - Registered Midwife

Special Skills & Knowledge

Essential

• Ability to analyse information and make crucial decisions in complex situations.
• A childrens rights centred approach to Safeguarding Children.
• Adopting a Think Family Approach to safeguarding.
• Understands and applies the principles of The Children Act 1989 and The Children Act 2004 and other key safeguarding legislation.
• Knowledge of all other relevant Safeguarding Children legislation.
• Demonstrates a knowledge of the local & national Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews & local reviews; their process and the current learning.
• Demonstrates a knowledge of the relevant local Safeguarding Adult learning.
• Provides evidence of innovative thinking around supporting the implementation of internal learning from incidents & local & national learning.
• Demonstrates a significant knowledge and understanding of local partnership multi-agency procedures, processes, thresholds and guidance.
• Demonstrates knowledge, skills and experience of applying safeguarding frameworks to practice, including Signs of Safety
• Contributes to influencing changes in practice through the support of staff via education.
• Recognises the importance of safeguarding supervision.Afeguaridng Midwife - Band 6
• Is an evidence-based practitioner.
• Experience of quality assurance methods including data collection and audit.
• Understanding of clinical governance
• Demonstrates the ability to support staff across the Trust through the provision of sound evidence-based advice and guidance to achieve the sound assessment of children and families, where there are safeguarding concerns.
• Applies knowledge and evidence to contribute to the recognition of children and families where there are safeguarding children concerns and can apply the appropriate action to achieve outcomes which are child-centred.
• High level of communication, written, oral and presentation skills.
• Understands the importance of team work and has the ability to work alongside the wider Safeguarding Children Team & other Safeguarding Teams across the Trust.
• Experienced in effective multi-agency and partnership working.
• Demonstrate a robust knowledge and understanding of the importance of safeguarding practice within Maternity; including safeguarding vulnerable women, unborn and newborn babies.
• Demonstrate a robust knowledge and understanding of the importance of pre-birth procedures, including planning and assessment.
• Demonstrate a robust knowledge and understanding of the importance of risk management and planning.
• Demonstrates experience of responding to domestic abuse, within the maternity setting, risk assessment and planning.
• Demonstrates an understanding of Female Genital Mutilation; safeguarding implications and processes in pregnancy.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the impact of parental mental ill health and the safeguarding implications and processes in pregnancy.
• Demonstrates knowledge and skills pertaining to the risks around concealed pregnancy and the risk of flight during pregnancy.
• Demonstrates a knowledge and understanding of contextual safeguarding children practice.
• Ability to engage and relate to all levels of staff within and across the organisation.
• Ability to work in a mentally and emotionally demanding environment dealing with complex and emotive issues with frequent interruption.
• Demonstrates resilience and ability to apply initiative.
• Ability to respectfully follow professional challenge/managing professional differences processes when there are concerns about a child/young person/family
• Robust knowledge of current issues in relation to information sharing, consent and confidentiality.

Desirable

• Experience of quality assurance and Clinical Governance methods, such as audit.
• Demonstrates knowledge of court processes and differences between private, public and criminal proceedings.
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of safe recruitment, in relation to Safeguarding Children and the role of the LADO.
• Demonstrates an understanding of training needs analysis and impact evaluation.

Special Requirements

Essential

• Able to meet the travel requirements of the role

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).