Benefits of having a Maternity Nurse
A maternity nurse is someone who comes into your home and helps care for you and your newborn baby in the first few months after birth. They usually work twenty four hours a day covering the nightshift, and can help guide you in caring for your baby, or they can take sole charge in the care of your newborn, depending on your preference.
Marloe London talk to Louenna, a Norland Nanny and Maternity Nurse who has fourteen years of practical experience caring for children and babies all over the UK and Worldwide.
"As a qualified Maternity Nurse I take bookings of just a couple of days or up to six months for a longer post. I hope to make bringing your baby home a nice and relaxed experience where you can enjoy your baby and get to know him or her, whilst gaining confidence yourself in looking after them and taking away any angst you might have. I give tips on how to stimulate your baby and promote their development by using age and stage appropriate aids and activities, and I offer a Newborn Baby List to all my clients with the products that I recommend to make your life easier with a newborn."
There are many benefits to hiring a maternity nurse, but every family has different needs. For example, first time parents will often want to learn about physically caring for their baby from bathing, to top and tailing, getting them dressed and swaddling them at sleep times. Whereas parents who have older children and who are confident in caring for their baby will often want to spend time with the older siblings and have help in settling the new baby into the family without causing too much disruption or any jealousy issues.
It can be very daunting bringing home a newborn, they have lots of funny little traits - from grunting noises to bright yellow poos! A Maternity Nurse can tell you what is normal and offer you reassurance and a calming approach.
In the first few weeks when everyone is adjusting to a new addition it’s nice to have an extra pair of hands.
You can ask any questions, or discuss different childcare methods to best suit your family’s needs. Having a maternity nurse allows you peace of mind to rest and recover after birth and build up strength so that you feel able to cope when they leave - even just being able to have a bath in peace knowing that your baby is being looked after is a luxury!
A maternity nurse is someone you can talk to if you’re feeling overwhelmed by motherhood - it’s always good to talk. Just having someone to talk to during the night feeds can make the time go quicker and the mood a little brighter.
Not only does a maternity nurse bring a wealth of knowledge and experience on caring for your baby, and the best and most useful products available to buy, but they can often spot if something isn’t quite right as they know how a happy baby should be reacting. They might be able to spot the early signs of reflux or a lactose intolerance and can offer the best advice on how to deal with these problems and make your baby as comfortable and happy as possible.
If you are hiring a maternity nurse, Louenna's advice is that you make sure you discuss your expectations are so that you’re both on the same page and the maternity nurse is as helpful to your needs as possible. Do you want your baby to follow a routine, do you hope to breast or bottle feed, would you like the maternity nurse to help with older siblings? These are all important things that should be discussed before you make a booking as every maternity nurse works in different ways - some love to cook and help with general housework, others only want to focus on the baby for example. Being a maternity nurse and living in someone else’s house is a very personal job and so it’s important that you like being in each others company, so have a chat and make sure you feel at ease talking to each other.
