Maternity Support Workers Standards

Project Overview

Maternity Support Workers are considered an integral part of the maternity care team who provide a valuable and important contribution to the delivery of high-quality midwifery care. The role of the Maternity Support Worker is to provide safe and effective women-centred care to women, babies and their families, across both hospital and community settings, working under the direction and supervision of a registered midwife and within agreed guidelines and protocols.

In February 2022, the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) (Department of Health (DoH) commissioned NIPEC to lead a project to develop regional Standards for Maternity Support Workers, review and update the existing Maternity Support Workers education programme and develop resources to support their role. This project was successfully achieved through strong effective engagement and collaboration of key stakeholders.

In September 2024, the CNO launched the Standards for Maternity Support Workers, mandating that they are fully implemented and enforced across all HSC Trusts.

These Maternity Support Standards will provide clarity on the role and responsibilities of the Maternity Support Worker working within the HSC Trusts and will provide assurances that they are working to an agreed standard.

The Maternity Support Worker education programmes were also updated to reflect the regionally agreed Maternity Support Worker Core Skills and Competencies.

The Final Project Report provides a summary of this project.

NIPEC also carried out preliminary work to source a new sustainable model and infrastructure to support the preparation and education of MSWs that complies with quality assurance and educational governance requirements.

All resources mentioned above can be found in resources below.

Resources

Contact

Senior Professional Officer for this project: Fiona Bradley