Safeguarding Midwife inDarlington inDarlington PUBLISHED WED 8 JAN 2025

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 6 Safeguarding Midwife to work within our wider Safeguarding Children Team and alongside our caring and compassionate colleagues across the maternity and children services and within the wider organisation. We are looking for a highly motivated, dynamic and innovative Band 6 Midwife to join our supportive, hard-working, friendly and committed team, working across the Trust.

As a member of the Safeguarding Children Team you will be required to provide safeguarding advice and support; other responsibilities include; supporting risk assessment, analysis and decision-making within safeguarding practice. You must confident to provide training independently and supporting the facilitation of safeguarding supervision with staff across the Trust. You will work closely with the Specialist Safeguarding Midwife and wider safeguarding team, to deliver the maternity safeguarding agenda across the Trust, whilst also working closely with our multi-agency safeguarding partnerships.

The role will require cross-site working.The successful candidate will be experienced in caring for vulnerable women from a wide variety of backgrounds, including those with complex social factors and safeguarding concerns. They will have a good understanding of safeguarding processes pertaining to vulnerable women, unborn and newborn babies and their families. They will have a sound understanding of national and local safeguarding procedures and key legislation, and its relevance within safeguarding. You will have a robust knowledge and experience around identifying vulnerability and risk during the childbirth continuum.

You will have a commitment to ensuring that safeguarding provision across CDDFT maternity service continues to develop in line with current learning from incidents, local and national reviews and feedback from staff around their learning needs. You will utilise the evidence-base, adopting a child/family focused approach to practice,ensuring the Trust fulfil its statutory responsibility.If you have a passion for Safeguarding Children & vulnerable women, a keen desire to improve the outcomes for vulnerable women, babies & families, then this is the post for you.

About us

An integral part of the Safeguarding Children Team.

Working closely with the wider safeguarding children and adult teams.

Supporting the Specialist Midwife Safeguarding and Named Professionals Safeguarding Children, to deliver the Maternity Safeguarding agenda, across the organisation. Supporting the identification of vulnerability for women, unborn & newborn babies and their families, to ensure early intervention, to improve outcomes.

A child's right centred and Think Family approach to providing safeguarding support, advice and guidance, within maternity.

Work in collaboration with multi-agency partners to ensure robust planning, assessment and risk management, prior to birth.

Complete accurate and robust contemporaneous safeguarding record keeping at all times.

Ensure that there is accurate and timely pre-birth assessment, in order to safeguard and protect vulnerable unborn & newborn babies and their families.

Attendance at multi-agency meetings, including professional meetings, risk management meetings, Strategy meetings, Pre-Discharge Planning Meetings.

Compilation of multi-agency chronologies, applying robust information gathering, risk assessment & providing analysis.

Assisting in the development and provision of Safeguarding Training, which is bespoke to the safeguarding children and maternity safeguarding agenda, and delivered through a variety of methods, utilising current themes from learning and feedback from practitioners.

A sound knowledge and experience in safeguarding, specifically across the maternity footprint and an understanding of the impact of complex social needs and multiple adversity within the childbirth continuing.

Working closely with the multi-disciplinary team and our multi-agency partners to embed evidence-based safeguarding practice and ensure that local and national learning is implemented.

Assist in the collection of robust data pertaining to maternity & safeguarding.

Contributing to audit and quality assurance processes to improve outcomes.

Support and assist the Specialist & Named Safeguarding Midwives in the review and evaluation of safeguarding practice, within maternity.

Demonstrate a robust knowledge of vulnerability assessment, analysis and the importance of individualised decision making.

Demonstrate a robust knowledge and understanding of the key relevant safeguarding legislation.

Demonstrate a robust knowledge and understanding of local and national safeguarding policies and procedures. Support the update and compilation of new policy and procedure.

Supporting the provision of Safeguarding Supervision and reflective discussion within maternity.

Demonstrate an understanding and ability to apply the Signs of Safety framework within practice

Ensure that accurate and meaningful safeguarding contacts/referrals are made, with the support, education and empowerment, for the maternity teams. Demonstrate the ability to seek outcomes of referrals/safeguarding contacts, apply analysis and critical thinking to determine safety, engage in respectful professional challenge/escalation, when appropriate, to ensure that unborn & newborn babies, children, young people and vulnerable families are safeguarded.

Recognising and responding appropriately to Bruising in Non-Mobile Infants, utilising the appropriate pathway to support practitioners.

Recognising and responding appropriately to Domestic Abuse within pregnancy.

A good understanding of the processes regarding Female Genital Mutilation.

Recognising and responding appropriately to concealment of pregnancy.

Support the functions of MARAC & MAPPA, relevant to maternity practice.

Engage in risk assessment, management & planning when appropriate, to respond to risks around violence, identified in other arenas i.e. MARAC, MAPPA, information sharing in MASH/Strategy.

Accurate and timely compilation of Birth Response Plans, to ensure the communication of key information to protect the safety of vulnerable babies, women, families and staff members within the organisation and across the multi-agency.

Demonstrates excellent communication skills within the Maternity Safeguarding Team, the wider organisation and multi-agency partners.

Has a good understanding of the importance of escalation and information sharing within the team, when concerns are identified.

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding, and provide support to practitioners, regarding the Mental Health Act & Mental Capacity Act.

Supports practitioners caring for vulnerable women & their families; applies a sound knowledge regarding consent, Mental Capacity Act assessment, best interest decision-making and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Also has a relevant awareness of Liberty Protection Safeguards.

To support practitioners in the compilation of safeguarding statements and preparation for court.

Support the Specialist & Named Safeguarding Midwives in the implementation of learning from internal incidents, local and nation reviews.

Support the Maternity Safeguarding Team in the development and dissemination of relevant maternity resources, across the maternity agenda.

Demonstrates an understanding and applies skills in conflict resolution.

Maintain a current professional knowledge base and competency level, underpinned by current evidence.

Identify personal development needs and promote personal professional development, by completing relevant reading and attending appropriate courses and study days.

Demonstrate a robust knowledge, understanding and the ability to apply clinical governance standards.