Maternity focus

The resources below help demonstrate how health care assistants can help midwives and new mothers.

Online resources

• NICE guidelines: Pregnancy and complex social factors: A model for service provision for pregnant women with complex social factors (2010)
• NICE guidelines: Weight management before, during and after pregnancy (2010) 
• NICE guidelines for postnatal care: Routine postnatal care of women and their babies (2004)

RCN resources

• Royal College of Nursing (2004) The postnatal health needs of women following caesarean section. London: RCN
• Royal College of Nursing (2010) Policies to support practice areas caring for neonates, children and young people. London: RCN

Books

There are a wide range of books to borrow on maternal and infant care in the RCN library. Here are just a few examples.

• Pollard, M. (2011) Evidence-based care for breastfeeding mothers: a resource for midwives and allied healthcare professionals. Abingdon: Routledge
• Symonds, M. and Ramsay, M. (2010) Maternal-fetal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Journal articles

• Development of maternity support worker roles in the UK. Griffin, R; Dunkley-Bent, J; Skewes, J. British Journal of Midwifery. 2010. Apr. 18(4). p243-6. Overview and presentation of a model describing the evolution and development of the higher level maternity support worker (MSW) role. The model's initial, developmental, consolidation and establishment stages are explained and the role's current position and its final establishment within the NHS are considered. 14 refs.
• Easing the pain of loss. Moore, A. Nursing Standard. 2009. 25 Nov. 24(12). p18-9. Development of a care pathway for women who have lost babies during the 2nd or 3rd trimester which reduces the wait for post-mortem results and enables high-risk pregnancies to be monitored from an early stage. The reasons behind the work by maternity care assistant Lyndy Swain on the pathway at William Harvey Hospital, Kent are explained.
• Building capacity to care: learning for maternity support workers. Griffin, R; Dunkley-Bent, J; Malhotra, G. British Journal of Midwifery. 2009. Jan. 17(1). p7-11. Research to determine why maternity units in London introduced maternity support workers (MSW) and to examine where they work, the tasks they undertake and the types and features of education currently available to them. Midwifery leaders' perceptions regarding future development of maternity support worker NVQ accredited learning programmes were examined. 9 refs.
• Raising the profile of maternity care assistants. Hood, A. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants. 2007. Oct. 1(7). p314-6. The role and development of maternity care assistants in supporting midwives in clinical practice. Training initiatives in Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust, their skills and responsibilities and the value of the role are discussed. 9 refs.
• The right kind of help. Sewell, B. RCM Midwives. 2007. Feb. 10(2). p85. The role of community maternity assistants working with a Sure Start midwife in Derby. Their work supporting mothers and their help to the midwife is described. 4 refs.