Job Description

Preterm birth (PTB) is defined as delivery at less than 37+0 week's gestation and is a common complication of pregnancy comprising around 8% of births in England and Wales. It is the most important single determinant of adverse infant outcome with regards to survival and quality of life.



Babies born preterm have high rates of early, late, and post-neonatal mortality and morbidity and contributes to an estimated to cost health services in England and Wales of 3.4bn per year.



The Preterm Birth Midwife will work collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team and will play a key role in co-ordinating the care and support of women who are at increased risk of preterm labour, with suspected or confirmed preterm labour, or having a planned preterm birth (i.e. due to fetal growth restriction, pre-eclampsia or other clinical reason). This role will require a weekly clinical commitment providing antenatal care to women/birthing people at risk of preterm birth in the antenatal clinic setting.



The Preterm Birth Midwife will participate actively in local and regional networks, teaching, and research to improve education and implementation of Preterm Birth pathway. They will also work closely with the Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) to co-design services to ensure that pathways are supportive and equitable for women and families accessing maternity care at UHSussex.



Support women/pregnant/birthing people at increased risk of preterm birth throughout the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care continuum. Demonstrate strong clinical management and leadership skills which support the Midwifery, MDT and maternity service as a whole. Lead and develop services working alongside the nominated preterm specialist multidisciplinary team ensuring consistency and continuity of care for women at increased risk of preterm birth. Utilise current and ongoing research and continually develop local preterm birth pathways to progress the service agendas in relation to reducing preterm birth. To utilise key reports such as Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle Version 3, and the Department of Health's Safer Maternity Care reports to inform clinical practice within UHSussex Maternity Services. To show compassionate behaviour towards women/birthing people and their families, ensuring equality and diversity differences are respected and women and their family are enabled to be partners in their own care. To work collaboratively with the Bereavement team should an adverse outcome be expected or experienced. Ensuring parents are supported sensitively and appropriately, with onward referral to additional support and/or bereavement counselling as required. To participate in on call rota as per the needs of the service.

At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First, as shown in our Outstanding for Caring CQC rating. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of Staff Networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) and a Veteran Aware Trust.



We treat our patients and staff with the same compassion and empathy we expect for ourselves. We're here for them when they need us, and we go above and beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in our Wellbeing Programme for staff which is extensive and designed to support you when you need it because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves.



As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching and training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us and throughout your career we will help you to grow and develop.



We hope that in choosing UHSussex you are choosing a long and happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make and feel valued for all that you do. We look forward to receiving your application and the start of your journey with UHSussex.

Candidate Information Pack:

https://www.uhsussex.nhs.uk/resources/candidate-information-pack/



Understand preterm pregnancy management options including the pros and cons of prophylactic vaginal progesterone or cervical cerclage procedures, services and support. To be responsible for the management of individualised care to a defined group of mothers and babies using the assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating process within a multidisciplinary framework. Facilitate midwife led clinics, face to face, telephone and online facilities as appropriate to enable collaborative multidisciplinary communication in clinical decision making and care planning. To be confident in communicating with professionals at all levels in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary care settings. Able to participate professionally when having challenging conversations or delivering unwelcome and often unexpected bad news in an informative and compassionate way. To act as an advocate for women, ensuring informed consent for any proposed intervention or treatment and encouraging women/birthing people to be partners in their own care, supporting them to make informed decisions which best suit them. Willing to be a non-medical prescriber and/or work within pre-defined Midwifery patient group directives (PGD's) and have knowledge of drug regimens and side effects. Able to have supportive multidisciplinary discussions relating to neonatal care of preterm babies including location of care and explanation of the immediate complications which can result from a baby being born pre-term. Ensuring women at risk of preterm birth are supported and able to have opportunities to discuss their wishes regarding ongoing treatment and resuscitation of their baby in the event of a preterm delivery, including potential tours of the neonatal unit and opportunity to speak with a consultant neonatologist. Be responsible for the data collection, audit and evaluation of the service, ensuring compliance with internal and external reporting mechanisms such as UHSussex governance meetings and CQC reporting.

The Preterm Birth Midwife will work closely with neonates becoming part of an MDT reviewing and audit all cases of preterm births against the KPI's, feeding back learning and creating action plans. This role will support all the maternity services on different sites. A key priority of this role will be to work with the neonatal and obstetric team on improving preterm optimisation and implementation of the PERIPrem passport.



This role is eligible for visa sponsorship under the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker route. Sponsorship can only be provided where applicants meet the specific requirements set by UKVI, including the relevant skill and salary thresholds, and any role-specific criteria.