Live-in Maternity Nurses

pdf owl
A Maternity ‘Live-in’ Nurse will come and live with you 24 hours a day for between one week and six months.  She will support you with breast/bottle feeding your baby and help set up a good routine, if you do not want to be baby led. She will take care of all the baby’s laundry and the sterilizing of equipment.  She will also look after the baby for you over-night so that you can get a good sleep and recover properly.  She will be able to offer you advice and answer all your questions.

She will help look after you and it is reasonable to ask her to prepare you light snacks during the day.  She will also be able to advise you on your nutrition and the foods that are good for a breast feeding mum to eat.

A Maternity Live in Nurse’s role is not to look after older children although some may be willing to help with this aspect of daily life in your home, recognizing that it will aid your quick recovery to full strength.  If you would like your maternity nurse to be involved with the family in this way then this should be made clear and agreed at the interview and written into your contract of agreement.

Similarly housework does not constitute part of a Maternity Live in Nurse’s role but if you think you would like some help with light chores such as emptying and loading the dishwasher and washing machine, this should be made clear at the interview and again written into your contract of agreement with the Maternity Nurse.

Maternity Nurses who live with you ‘full time’ will need some personal time for themselves, either to go for a walk or catch-up on their sleep. We would expect that clients would arrange for their Maternity Live-in Nurse to be allowed a minimum of 3 hours personal time each day. This is time free from any responsibility or children and can be arranged for a set time or negotiated on a daily basis according to the plan for the coming day. It is of utmost importance that your Maternity Live in Nurse takes her break so that she doesn’t get over tired and is consequently unable to provide the professional care and service you expect.

Domestic Requirements

Obviously the size of your home will affect the type of facilities that you can offer to the Maternity Nurse.

As a minimum they will need a bed and a room where they can take a break during the day away from the baby. The bed can be a fold-up or camp bed, but it should have a mattress and adequate bedding. They should have a space where they can unpack their bag and hang up their clothes for the week.  Facility to launder their own clothes during the working week would be helpful. Any extras such as an en-suite toilet, television and wifi are not vital but are very much appreciated.

Board and lodging at no cost is considered to be part of the working package. It should be decided at interview whether you will eat a main meal together. If in the evenings you would prefer to have some time alone with your partner then the Maternity Nurse will understand this and won’t be offended.  However if this is the case then time and facilities should be made available so that she can prepare her own evening meal.

Note

If your home follows religious or cultural traditions, then both the Maternity Nurse and Night Owls should be informed of this fact. We respect all faiths, cultures and religious observances and would not want act in any way that might cause offence to you or your family.

Charges and Rates of Pay

Once you made your selection of Maternity Nurse, you will need to confirm the offer of employment to both the Maternity Nurse as well as to Night Owls.

At this stage, Night Owls will send you a service agreement detailing the nights, days or weeks that have been agreed. Included with this will be an invoice confirming the Agency Fee to be charged and identifying the different ways in which this can be paid. We would ask that any Agency Fees are paid within 10 days of the Invoice date.

When you confirm employment to the Maternity Nurse, you will be required to pay them a minimum of one week’s non-refundable deposit for every four week contract period, or part thereof.

Unless the Maternity Nurse is working overseas or you live outside of a 30 mile radius of central London (measured from Charing Cross), you would not generally be required to cover the cost of travel, this is included in the Nurse’s hourly rate. For locations beyond the 30 miles radius of travel the Maternity Nurse may choose to charge the cost of travelling. This could either be charged at the rate of a maximum of 45p / mile or the cost of a second class train ticket. The Maternity Nurse will let you know if this additional cost applies.

If the Maternity Nurse uses her own car to travel to you, wherever you live, you would be required to cover the cost of parking, supply an ‘on-street parking permit’ or space on your drive. In addition, if the hours of employment incur a London Congestion Charge payment, this would also need to be covered.

Maternity Nurses’ rates for working on a Bank Holiday are charged at time and a half. This charge applies to the actual hours worked on the Bank Holiday. In other words if the Bank Holiday is on Monday, the charge would apply for any hours worked commencing midnight Sunday night to midnight Monday night. Where a Maternity Nurse is willing to work on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, this will be charged at double time.

The table below gives a general guide of the prices charged by Day Maternity Nurses. However, the actual rates of pay will vary, depending upon the experience, qualifications and skill of the Nurse. The actual charge for each Maternity Nurse will be confirmed with you, at the time of your enquiry.

Nurse Average rate per hour single baby Average rate per hour twins
From To From To
Live-in Maternity Nurse £11.00 £16.00 £14.00 £20.00