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0845 388 7098.

A Tigerlily Maternity Nurse works with parents during the first few days or weeks following the birth of their new arrival. They specialise in providing essential support, advice and respite to ensure that the settling in period is a smooth, relaxed and highly enjoyable experience for everyone involved.

Maternity Nurses encourage the parents’ involvement and help to ensure that they also have sufficient time to allocate to older siblings. The Maternity Nurse’s experience of working in a personal environment is crucial and they know when to step in and help and when to step back and allow parents and extended family their own time with the baby.

Many of our Maternity Nurses have cared for hundreds of newborns throughout their career and are really well placed to give the best advice on a wide range of maternity techniques, such as how to bath and change the baby, sleep training, developing feeding routines, dealing with post-natal depression, breast or bottle feeding techniques and much more.

Our Maternity Nurses offer a unique and highly specialised service for parents and demand for this service is high due to the invaluable contribution they make. Their positive impact is often felt many months after they have left the family.

Duties

Tigerlily’s Maternity Nurses specialise in the following duties:

• Providing essential advice on feeding the baby, bathing, sleeping, clothing, establishing routines and physically performing all of these tasks as required.
• If the baby is breast-fed, the Maternity Nurse will observe, encourage and advise as necessary. The Maternity Nurse should resettle the baby after all feeds to allow the mother time to rest.
• If the baby is bottle-fed, the Maternity Nurse will ensure that all feeding equipment is clean, sterilised and fit-for-use day and night. The Maternity Nurse is responsible for feeding the baby day and night and for establishing the best feeding routines, in line with those agreed with the parents.

Hours of Work / Breaks / Time-off

A Maternity Nurse is usually on duty 24 hours per day, usually for 5 or 6 days per week on a live-in basis within the family’s home or accommodated nearby.

Long hours and the likelihood of broken sleep can easily result in the Maternity becoming tired. It is recommended that the Maternity Nurse is given a 2-3 hour break each day to catch-up on her sleep in order for her to remain fully effective. This and other breaks should form part of a pre-agreed work pattern and may include time spent away from the home.

Our Maternity Nurses are usually booked on 5 or 6 day per week basis, with the remaining 1 or 2 days taken as time-off. This can be spent on a work-free basis within the home or they may prefer to return to their own home.

Living with the Family

Maternity Nurses often share the baby's room if that suits all parties or will be happy to stay in suitably comfortable accommodation.

Food is generally provided for the Maternity Nurse so that she may cook for herself. Alternatively she may participate in family meal-times. It is not the Maternity Nurse’s duty to cook for the family, however she should wash/clean up if eating alone and may be required to prepare the occasional snack/meal for the mother.

Communication

Effective communication between the parents and Maternity Nurse is essential to the on-going success of the relationship and the baby's development.

Tigerlily recommend the following guidelines be followed:

• Clear objectives should be set for the duration of the Maternity Nurse’s booking. This will provide clarity for both parties on the aims of the booking.
• The Maternity Nurse should maintain a log of all feeds, sleeps and daily landmarks and the family should maintain this when the Maternity Nurse is not around.
• Regular 'open-discussions' should take place so that ideas and opinions can be aired.
• If the Maternity Nurse has concerns about the baby's health, she should inform the parents immediately.
• It is essential that the Maternity Nurse knows where the parents are and is in possession of their contact details.

Maternity Nurse Options available from Tigerlily

Daily Maternity Nurses – work up to 12 hours a day & up to 6 days week and are a great option for families unable to provide live-in accommodation. The family will receive all the benefits and experience from the Maternity Nurse, but without the night-time support of a 24 hour nurse.

Night-only Maternity Nurses – work up to 12 hours a night & up to 6 days a week and can provide great relief and support for parents who are looking for extra sleep or where the baby is waking frequently.

Maternity Nannies – provide a very similar service to a Maternity Nurse, but normally lack the same levels of experience and training. They are a fantastic option for parents with older children who may also need support and comfort. A Maternity Nanny will need breaks in the same way as a Maternity Nurse and ideally they should possess a positive will-do attitude as their role will be varied.