ABOUT MATERNITY MATES:
Maternity Mates volunteer alongside midwives and other health professionals, enabling the mother-to-be to understand the issues and decisions that affect her care. Our aim is to ease the mother’s concerns and support her to gain a positive experience of giving birth and caring for her new baby.
Maternity Mates recruit and train volunteers to provide emotional and practical support during pregnancy, childbirth, and the early weeks of family life. The women they support are in vulnerable situations, either because they are isolated, without support from family or friends, lack English language skills, are not familiar with the health system, have mild mental health issues, or are migrant (e.g. asylum seekers or refugees), etc.
Training:
All Maternity Mates undergo a 5-6 weeks training programme, which is accredited to Level 3 with the Open College Network (OCN). The training provides the knowledge and skills needed to develop the Maternity Mate role. The training sessions will cover various topics including the antennal role, mentoring, breastfeeding, preparing for birth, birth and postnatal support and maternal mental health.
Boroughs they cover:
The programme is delivered in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest.
During the pandemic, the training was adapted to be delivered online via zoom. However; we have now moved to a blended approach with online and classroom sessions.
Commitment Expectations:
Maternity Mates can expect to support up to 2 mums at any one time, depending on their experience. The length of time each Maternity Mate spends with a mum will vary but is usually around 2-3 hours per week. Maternity Mates are expected to:
- Volunteer for at least 12 months (training + supporting mums)
- Support at least 4 mums
- Attend at least 2 births
We ask all potential volunteers to make sure they are willing and able to make this commitment when applying to become a Maternity Mate. Please note there is a deposit of £22 which is refunded after you have supported 4 mums.
We welcome volunteers who, in addition to English, speak any community languages, including Bengali, Somali, Arabic, Urdu, Mandarin, Albanian or Polish.
Please note: the volunteer Maternity Mate role falls with the Privacy and Decency section of the Sex discrimination Act 1975 and is only available to women.
Application Process:
(1) The first step is the online Open Day. This session is a great opportunity to meet the team, some of our current Maternity Mates, find out about the project and how you can get involved. The open day is an important part of recruitment, so Maternity Mates encourage you to attend if at all possible.
Open Day – Maternity Mates
Date: Wednesday 16th March
Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm
Where: Zoom – Topic: Maternity Mates Open Day
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87404379194?pwd=blZQcFpXVFdWT2JoTGIzSjdUd1ZYZz09
Meeting ID: 874 0437 9194
Passcode: 903465
Date: Wednesday 23rd March
Time: 5.30pm – 7.00pm
Where: Zoom – Topic: Maternity Mates Open Day
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87404379194?pwd=blZQcFpXVFdWT2JoTGIzSjdUd1ZYZz09
Meeting ID: 874 0437 9194
Passcode: 903465
(2) If you wish, you can submit your application form by clicking on this link: https://relationshipsdata.typeform.com/MMJourney
Click on My Journey and then select Option A
Please note the application form needs to be completed in one go, for this reason, I have attached a PDF version of the application form so that you can prepare your answers beforehand.
The applicant needs to provide two referees who have known them for at least one full year, but they cannot be a family member or friend. Deadline is 9am on Wed 27th April 2022. Please find attached the application form, the Maternity Mate role description and the calendar with key dates. Due to the nature of the role, all Maternity Mates are DBS checked.
(3) Once your application form has been submitted, shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an online interview. The interview is informal, so you don’t need to prepare anything in advance.
(4) Selected applicants will undergo to the online training and those who successfully complete the training will become Maternity Mates. The training sessions are twice a week on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm for online sessions and 10.00am – 4.00pm for classroom days. The next training will start on Wednesday 4th May 2022.
