Maternity Nurse Interviews - What to ask?

[Oopsie]

I'm feeling very clueless as I only just found out I am pregnant at 22 weeks. I'm not yet too sure how I would look after a baby, let alone how I would want somebody else to do it. Does anybody have a list they can share by any chance?

I really hope I'm not too late to find someone good.

i know this isn't what you asked, but personally I would rather look after the baby myself and have someone else do the other jobs (cleaning/cooking etc)
especially if you are planning to breastfeed, baby will be with you for the majority of the time anyway

Thanks thisisyesterday but I know I would have a really hard time with the broken nights at the very start. I'm not nice to be around when I haven't slept well, which would not be good for our relationship (especially as boyfriend is still digesting the news). I think it will be much better if I can sleep at night then spend days focusing on being a great mother and partner.

Night nurse may be better -as I understand it maternity nurses cover day. Also agree that someone to do other stuff may be helpful as you can then just concentrate on Baby and resting when you can.

I'm hoping that whoever we hire will be able to help show us the ropes a little and get the baby into a good routine for after they leave. Would a night nanny be able to do that? (Genuinely curious here). If so, perhaps I should lol into that. Thank you.

Having someone only at night may cost about the same as a 24 maternity nurse as they will charge by the hour whereas a 24 hours will be roughly £150 though if they are doing nights they should get a break in the day.

How long will you have someone? I just ask as babies should be fed frequently and any kind of routine will not really present itself in the early weeks. I have just finished with a new baby and we mixed fed but if you want to solely breastfeed you will be awake frequently too. If you don't feed at night it affects your supply and babies can get confused between bottle and breast.

In your position I would use an agency and get them to help you choose someone suitable if money allows.

Most of my mums have a natural instinct and even if they think they are doing something wrong they are not. You need someone who is helpful but not taking over. Also find someone who is willing to look after you aswell, eg: willing to pop to the shops or make you something to eat.

Good luck and congratulations.

Thanks sailorgirl. We are thinking around ten weeks. I'm not planning to breastfeed so that's not an issue. Which agencies would you recommend? We are with Maternally Yours but haven't been that impressed so far so would like to sign up to some others.

I'm registered with Eden which has a maternity section, there is also the maternity nurse company and maternal response. I think Fulham nannies are sopposed to be quite good if you are in London.

I think you will just have to interview a few and see who you are comfortable with. Remember they will be living with you 24 hours! Obviously they should have experience and refs and speak to them yourselves too.

Perhaps a mix of a night nanny and a doula during the day would suit you but may be more expensive than a 24/6 maternity nurse.

Some families have a maternity nurse do 24/5 (mon-fri) then have a weekend night nanny so they get the nights covered at the weekends but have the daytime as a family as both parents are generallt at home.

I would suggest you find someone experienced and therefore pay would reflect this with £175-£200 per 24hrs for a very good experienced mat nurse and £12-£16 an hr for an experienced night nanny (although just for a weekend person covering maternity nurses nights off following a routine already set out you could go for someone new to night nannying but with baby experience and pay around £10 an hr).

Agency wise tinies in my experience have been very good, tigerlily and kidsmatteruk are all nationwide agencies.

good luck

ps - where in the country are you?

Thanks all. I like the idea of 24/5 with a weekend night nanny so all nights are covered. I think that could be really good for us.

I now have three interviews lined-up. One for Wed, one for Thu and one for next Tue. This should be interesting...

Oh and, to the PS, we are in London.

In london you should have a good choice of maternity nurses/night nannies so dont make a hasty choice make sure its someone who has the experience you need but also someone you will get on with esp with having someone 24hrs day.

With having a weekend night nanny you will have lots of interest from nannies who work during the week who weekend night nanny or are looking to start night nannying and have baby experience from years of nanny work.

Good luck with your search and hope interviews go well.

my baby is 9 and half mths now and I remember the sleepness nights well and certainly have the empathy for any new clients (I start a twin night nanny job shortly just weekend nights as they have a weekly maternity nurse)

Thanks. I wasn't particularly impressed with today's candidate but we've had lots more applications come in and another three interviews at least lined-up.

Interviewing is a learning profess in itself. It's worth taking the time to reflect on what you did and didn't like and refining your sd if necessary.

Sorry for typos (BFing) - process and ad

Thanks. I've just interviewed another candidate. I liked her a lot more but am now worried she won't choose us as the accommodation we're offering is not fantastic. Two more are coming tomorrow, including one whose CV I'm very drawn to.

Oopsie, ten weeks is quite a long time to have someone in your house...(having had a maternity nurse with twins, we were always very relieved on her day off, not that she wasn't lovely but...it was a bit of squeeze)

You don't need a maternity nurse, you know....It is quite nice to get a bit of time learning about your baby by yourself, it will make you grow in confidence. There are always last minute maternity nurses if you flounder.
When they leave, you will still be the mum, so the more time you spend with the baby at the beginning the better.

And give bfng a chance, why not? When the baby is born, you need to get used to your partner helping you, (and he needs to get used to it too) not just someone from outside however kind and helpful.

Beware of someone who wants to get a very young baby into a routine anyway, the best maternity nurses will do lots of holding and cuddling, and just have a lot of confidence handling babies (but as I say, it doesn't take much to realise the baby knows no-one but you, and won't expect you to pass a GSCE in child care)

Well... We met with a great candidate this morning. I was instantly drawn to her and somehow it just felt right. So I rang her this afternoon to offer her the position (subject to all formalities) and she has accepted!

Thanks for your advice everyone. I'm sure I'll be back for more shortly...

brilliant! good luck with everything.

Just a case of clicking with someone you like and on the same wavelength.

Good luck with everything glad you found someone you like as thats very important is it a maternity nurse doing 24/5 or 24/6 or did you decide on just nights in the end?

We're booking her for ten weeks of 24/6. However, she said she has a friend also looking to get into maternity nursing who would be interested in covering her night off. So we're going to meet her on Tuesday. So it looks as if this could work out very well all round. Fingers crossed!

wow sounds fab glad you got it sorted good luck for tues friend covering the night mat nurse is off should be charging less than an experienced mat nurse - make sure she has some baby experience and dont feel obliged to offer her the job just coz she is a friend of the mat nurse.

good luck with rest of pregnancy and baby when he/she arrives