Job summary
We are inviting internal applications from experienced midwives who would like to be part of our new Community Birth Team and help shape the service from the very beginning. This is an exciting opportunity to become one of our trailblazers. Midwives who will help establish the team, develop how we work together and influence the culture and ways of working as the service grows. The Community Birth Team has been designed with midwives and staff involvement at the beginning of its development. We have worked hard to develop a flexible staffing and on call model that supports work life balance and recognise the competing priorities that staff have outside of work.

We are particularly keen to hear from experienced midwives who are passionate about supporting women to birth in their chosen setting and who want to play an active role in creating something new.

Joining at this stage means you will have a genuine opportunity to influence how the team develops. We are looking for enthusiastic, adaptable and self aware midwives who want to contribute to creating a supportive, psychologically safe and clinically excellent team. If you want to be part of creating something new, have your voice heard and help shape the future of community birth in Gloucestershire, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job
You will provide woman centred antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care, with a particular focus on supporting women choosing to birth at home or within a stand alone midwifery led setting. You will work autonomously within the community, promote physiological birth and informed choice, support community birth and therefore recognise and respond to changes in clinical condition, and confidently manage emergencies and transfers when required. You will participate in the team's birth availability and on call model, work across community and birth settings, contribute to continuity of care and support the development of safe, evidence based ways of working.

You will bring excellent communication, critical-thinking and decision-making skills, working confidently as an autonomous practitioner while contributing positively within the multidisciplinary team. Applicants should be adaptable, organised and able to thrive in a dynamic environment, with a proactive approach to maintaining professional development and promoting best practice

Being an early member of the team will also bring an expectation that you will be actively involved in shaping and developing the service. We are looking for midwives who are open to change, willing to learn together and prepared to have constructive conversations about what works well and what we can improve.

About us
Why Gloucestershire Hospitals

We take pride in placing people at the centre of everything we do, working together as a united team. Driven by a shared ambition to continually grow, develop, and learn, we recognise and value every contribution. By combining our experience and skills, we not only support our vibrant, diverse communities, but also support one another.

With a team of over 9,000 employees, we are proud to be the largest employer in Gloucestershire and rank among the top 10 largest Trusts in the South West region. By joining our Trust, you will benefit from an excellent package that includes exclusive benefits, flexible working opportunities and the chance to gain valuable experience in one or both of our innovative hospitals.

As well as generous annual leave allowance, you will have access to the excellent NHS pension scheme, competitive bank rates, discounts at local shops and restaurants, access to two on-site nurseries, discounted public transport, reward and recognition and a range of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Job responsibilities
To provide to the local population evidence-based women-centred midwifery care and be accountable for the overall provision of excellent care. To hold current NMC registration as a Midwife, working within the NMC Code of Professional Standards (2015).

To be a competent midwife, working flexibly within the Midwifery Service and be confident working as part of a multidisciplinary team, providing high-quality antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care within our integrated maternity service.

To provide evidence-based, woman-centred midwifery care within the Community Birth Team, with a primary focus on delivering safe, personalised intrapartum care in homebirth settings and alongside midwifery-led birth units.

The post holder will promote physiological birth, continuity of care, informed choice and positive birth experiences whilst ensuring timely recognition and escalation of complications.

Working autonomously and as part of a multidisciplinary team, the post holder will provide antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care across community and birth setting pathways, supporting women and families with varying levels of complexity.

The role requires confidence in managing labour and birth in community environments, responding effectively to obstetric and neonatal emergencies, and facilitating safe transfers when required.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Significant experience supporting physiological labour and birth in both home and birth unit settings.
• Knowledge of national maternity policy, strong understanding of antenatal and postnatal pathways and evidence-based practice relating to community intrapartum care.
• Confidence in autonomous decision-making and risk assessment when working in community environments.
• Competence in recognising and managing obstetric and neonatal emergencies in homebirth and birth unit settings, including initiating emergency transfer processes.
• Excellent communication and partnership-working skills that support informed choice and shared decision-making.
• Commitment to promoting normality, continuity, safeguarding, public health and personalised care.
• Ability to work flexibly within an on-call service and respond effectively to the unpredictable nature of intrapartum care provision.
• Experience of collaborating with ambulance services, obstetric teams, neonatal services and wider multidisciplinary partners to ensure seamless and safe care.

See Job description for detailed list of main duties and responsibilities.

Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential

• Active registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council
• United Kingdom recognised Degree in Midwifery Practice
• Evidence of ongoing professional development through maintenance of professional portfolio and registration revalidation
• Current experience and evidence of working as a Band 6 midwife or above

Knowledge and Skills
Essential

• Able to prioritise own workload and that of others as appropriate
• Personally resilient and able to manage complexity and work in an ambiguous or changing environment.
• Excellent presentational, communication and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrates ability to maintain and contribute to the development of standards of practice, conduct or decision making in conjunction with team, Lead Midwives, Consultant Obstetricians
• Demonstrates ability to use clinical reasoning skills and techniques to assess, diagnose, plan and offer a range of treatment options; deliver, evaluate and amend the treatment plan.
• Acts as a role model and are able to lead by example to ensure the Trust's values and behaviours are reinforced throughout their area of practice.
• Able to supervise non-registered and less experienced staff to ensure effective service and care delivery.
• Able to effectively and appropriately escalate concerns to reduce risk and promote patient safety
• Demonstrates ability to keep up to date with professional issues that influence midwifery practice relating to area of clinical practice, management, education and research.
• Demonstrates ability to question and challenge midwifery practice in a constructive way so that standards of care are continually evaluated and improved.
• Self-motivated and able to work under own initiative and prioritise workload

Desirable

• Able to contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies/protocols/guidelines relevant to area of practice.
• Tenacity to pursue goals energetically and succeed despite resistance
• Strong, professional leadership qualities, assertive and self-confident individual
• Ability to lead, manage and motivate all staff within sphere of responsibility

Clinical / Experience
Essential

• Experience (through placement or employment) of working in an acute clinical environment
• Experience of providing intrapartum care within homebirth and/or midwifery-led birth unit settings
• Evidence of supporting physiological birth and promoting informed choice
• Full UK driving licence and ability to travel independently across the county

Desirable

• Previous experience in a relevant speciality
• Experience of managing emergencies and transfers in a community setting

Personal Attributes
Essential

• Enthusiastic and self-aware
• Creative and Flexible
• Resilient under pressure
• Team focused
• Reliable, Adaptable and Dependable

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).