Bereavement Midwife

Job summary
The Bereavement Midwife will be a practising midwife who will lead and work as a member of the multidisciplinary team within the maternity service. They will facilitate and provide individualised care to bereaved women and their families.

Main duties of the job
The Bereavement Midwife will have overall responsibility for the provision of specialist care, support and practical advice to women and their families following the loss of their baby through miscarriage, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, stillbirth, or neonatal death. This is a Trust-wide position.

The Bereavement Midwife will provide clinical leadership within the maternity services and will play an integral part in service delivery and development. They will be pivotal in developing and delivering an education programme around baby loss and bereavement to all health care professionals. They will assist in the development of relevant guidelines and pathways.

The Bereavement Midwife will work closely with the Bereavement Lead Consultant to deliver individualised, trauma-informed antenatal care for women and their families experiencing pregnancy after loss.

The Bereavement Midwife will lead and implement the core principles of the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP).

About us
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations, operating from three main sites at Southmead, Bristol city centre and Weston.

With an annual turnover of £2.3 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone's throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer.

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust values all people as individuals. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we're meeting our pledge.

Job responsibilities
The Bereavement Midwife will demonstrate compassion, empathy and professionalism. They will communicate sensitively and effectively with bereaved families and others. They will demonstrate a strong sense of commitment to openness, honesty and integrity.

The Bereavement Midwife will act as a role model to others, maintaining a visible presence within the unit. They will provide expert advice and support for staff across the Trust who are supporting women and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss.

The Bereavement Midwife will provide specialist care, advice, and practical assistance to women and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss including:

• Investigations
• Reorientation of care
• Obtaining consent for Perinatal Postmortem examination
• Funeral arrangements
• Registration requirements
• Signposting to external agencies/charitable organisations
• Emotional and psychological support including referrals for counselling and Maternal Loss & Trauma (MaLT) service where appropriate
• Postnatal wellbeing support
• Facilitating appointments for families to visit their baby

Please see the attached job description for further details.

Person Specification
Education and qualifications
Essential

• Registered midwife
• Evidence of CPD
• Evidence of post-registration teaching qualification

Desirable

• Training in breaking bad news

Knowledge, skills and abilities
Essential

• Knowledge and understanding of research and evidence-based practice and the application to practice, particularly in relation to bereavement
• Knowledge and understanding of current developments in midwifery
• Knowledge and experience of public health issues including safeguarding
• Evidence of change management skills including advanced clinical skills and knowledge
• Evidence of knowledge and experience of delivery of bad news

Desirable

• Working knowledge of the Perinatal Mortality Review Tool (PMRT) process

Experience
Essential

• Practicing midwife with a minimum five years' experience in relevant setting
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to work cooperatively with the multi-disciplinary team
• Recent experience in bereavement care

Desirable

• Evidence of participating in audit, review and research
• Evidence of successful change management

Personal qualities
Essential

• Adaptive and responsive to changing needs
• Motivated and reliable
• Woman centred transformational style of leadership
• A positive attitude, approachable and supportive
• Experience of management of difficult and emotional circumstances

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).