Spotlight on: Maternity Care Assistants
Our MCAs play a crucial role assisting midwives in delivering safe and compassionate care to mothers, their babies and their families.
MCAs work in ante-natal clinics, delivery suites, our post-natal ward (Blakeney) and also in the community with the home birth team.
They have been praised by colleagues for their great effort and dedication during these challenging times.
Stephanie Pease, Divisional Midwifery Director, said: “Our Maternity Care Assistants provide exemplary compassionate care which is invaluable to women and their families.
“Their support, hard work and diligence support the midwifery/obstetric teams to provide exceptionally high standards of care. We are privileged to have such a dedicated team working alongside, and with, the maternity workforce”.
Rebecca Scott became an MCA four years ago and works in our delivery suites and also does bank shifts on Blakeney. She has been trained in supporting breastfeeding.
“My role is to help women to have the best possible birth experience and support them post-partum,” said Rebecca. “It is really rewarding to enable women to learn how to look after their babies in the first hours after giving birth.
“But my role is also to support dads, whose presence and help is fundamental too. I also helped midwives with C-sections and I worked in delivery suites, cleaning, re-stocking and preparing the rooms and generally doing those tasks that our midwives might not have time to do.”
Maria Armes works in our ante-natal clinics where she meets women who come for their scans.
“I really enjoy having a nice personal contact with women: sometimes they can be really nervous, especially when they come for their first scan and I help put their mind at ease,” said Maria.
“Handing families the first picture of their baby after the scan is also a really special moment. If some women have had a previous bad birth experience, I normally take them into a private room to reassure them and check they are ok.
“Covid-19 has made things harder for all. My role is also to check everyone visiting the ante-natal clinic has taken a lateral flow test to safeguard patients and colleagues.”
Anna Haestier, Consultant, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said: “I am always impressed with the high quality care they deliver to mothers, their partners and babies. Gone are the days when they would have had very much a supportive role; our MCAs are leaders in many areas of maternity service, particularly in educating new parents about how to look after their new born babies.’