Guest blog by Anne Harris of londongoverness.com.
Having a baby is the pivotal moment in the life of every human being. More often than not, parents realize that real parenthood is much different from what they were taught in their parenting classes. With the first drops of your colostrum milk, the first night crying and first changed diapers, you come to understand that it takes a lot of sacrifices to meet your baby’s needs. Since it’s not always easy to master all these things on your own, seeking assistance from a maternity nurse can make that process much easier.
Mother’s recovery and nurse’s duties
Once you’ve decided that you need a maternity nurse, it’s important to write down a list of their duties. For starters, giving your maternity assistant a free hand in their work could have some negative effects on your parenting habits. One of the key roles of parents in the first few weeks and months of baby’s life is to develop emotional bonds with their baby. If you rely too much on your nursing helper, you might skip this stage. As a result, it might be harder to cope with all the baby’s requests once your maternity nurse’s post in your family comes to an end. Therefore, share the duties with the maternity nurse in a natural way. After all, that person is here to assist you and not the other way around.
Setting the right schedule
It’s extremely important to set the rules regarding the shifts in baby care. If the mother needs to go back to work soon after baby’s birth, she won’t be able to wake up every time her baby cries at night. For instance, British mothers can get up to 37 weeks of paid leave after the birth. For some parents, this isn’t enough time to organize all the parenting bits the way they’d like to.
Also, some women suffer from postpartum depression, so they need an extra hand, to have some proper rest and recover from the emotional and physical stress they’ve been through.
This is the part where you should entitle the maternity nurse to take care of your baby, at least for some time. For instance, the mother should be there only for the night breastfeeding sessions, while the rest of the night watch should be performed by the nurse.
The level of involvement
Your maternity nurse will be involved in your baby’s life as much as you want her to be.
Some families opt for a part-time nurse since they want to spend the rest of the day alone with their baby. Others decide to hire an in-house nurse who is there to help them with every single detail related to baby’s life. In that case, you need to provide a separate room for the nurse and any other accessories she might need, such as their own bathroom, closet, and other little amenities.
No matter what model of relationship you opt for, make sure that you always pay respect to the maternity assistant you choose. This relationship will be beneficial for your baby only if you get along with the person you’ve chosen for that role. That’s why the choice of maternity nurse is extremely important for every family. Therefore, interview several candidates with impeccable references before you choose the one for your baby. Check their background with their previous employers, just to make sure that the nurse you hire will really make the first phase of your parenthood easier.
Being a parent often means juggling your work and your family duties. Since fathers often can’t spend as much time with their babies as they’d like to, mothers often need to call maternity professionals to help them to take perfect care of their baby. We hope that our guide will help you choose the right maternity nurse and build a successful relationship with that person.
Author Bio: Anne Harris is an HR specialist working for londongoverness.com. She recruits nannies, governesses, and other childcare professionals, ensuring top-notch services for parents worldwide. In her free time, she likes reading about education, and children’s welfare, as well as visiting sports events.