ROLE DESCRIPTION

At MBHS, a registered midwife works closely with pregnant women, assists in births, conducts post-delivery assessments, supports the Under 5 clinic services and provides family planning counselling to women and their families.

All MBHS registered midwives must provide patient-centered, compassionate, competent and quality health care services.  They must adhere to the General Nursing Council of Zambia’s Code of Conduct and must practice safe, ethical and evidence based midwifery care according to the MBHS standards of care.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must have a current RNM or RM qualification (essential)
• Diploma in Midwifery and Nursing (essential)
• Bachelors in Midwifery and Nursing (desirable)
• A current license to practice midwifery in Zambia from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Zambia
• BLS training is desirable.

KEY ROLE ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Ensure optimal patient care outcomes in the labour and delivery room is achieved.
• Ensure that standard operating policies and procedures are followed in keeping with Zambian midwifery scope of practice and MBCC standard of care.
• Provide nursing and midwifery care that is respectful, ethical and professional at all times.
• Ensure that clinical knowledge is maintained and updated in order to perform all required duties effectively.
• Must be accessible at all times when rostered and available for shift work and/or labour and delivery emergencies.
• Respect and maintain patient dignity and confidentiality at all times and continually strive to deliver a high standard of quality care.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide advice, care and support for women and their babies during pregnancy, labour and the early postnatal period.
• Diagnose, monitor and examine women during pregnancy and labour and delivery, including continually monitoring and assessing foetal heart rate.
• Ensure all baseline examinations and assessments are completed (i.e. including routine vital signs, urinalysis, abdominal and vaginal assessment and examination, and foetal heart monitoring) and documented according to MBHS standard operating procedure (SOP).
• Responsible for preparing and tidying up a consultation room before or after a medical procedure.
• Provide support and advice for women seeking family planning services, including health education, contraceptive treatment options and on-going counselling.
• Support and/or run the under 5 clinic services (including vaccinations programme) under supervision of a medical doctor.
• Cold chain system is continually monitored, maintained and recorded to ensure proper storage of vaccines. Must be educated on vaccine vial monitor (VVM) quality assurance method.
• Assist the medical doctors during clinical procedures, as requested.
• Responsible for implementing any pre-natal or birthing plans ordered by the medical doctor in collaboration with the patient and their family. This should include the patient’s request for birth technique, pain management, visitor access and any cultural/religious considerations.
• Ensure that all patient consent forms are completed and signed; midwifery assessment, examination and routine monitoring are clearly documented according to the clinic’s policy.
• Provide full pre-natal care, including screening tests (only within scope of practice).
• Monitor and administer medications, injections and IV infusions during labour as ordered.
• Involve the medical doctor or doctor on-call immediately if there are any complications or deviations from the agreed ‘normal’ delivery plan such as foetal distress, severe bleeding, slow or quick progress, wrong presentation, meconium stained liquor present etc.
• Ensure that there is a post-delivery care plan, proper transfer to the post-natal ward and discharge planning protocol in place for all patients.
• Offer support and counselling to women and their families following a miscarriage, termination, stillbirth, neonatal abnormalities and neonatal death.
• Advice and support parents in the daily care of their newborn babies, including breastfeeding, bathing and bottle-feeding.
• Support and educate mothers who are HIV positive in the daily care of their newborn babies.
• Support and educate mothers on malaria prevention and prophylaxis treatment.
• Support and/or mentor an enrolled midwife or student midwife as directed by the Unit Leader.
• Maintain effective patient handover procedures to other clinicians and during shift change.
• Continually demonstrate adherence to the Infection Control Policy, especially maintaining proper hand washing technique (Five moments).
• Use and maintain correct personal protective equipment (PPE) such as eye protection, lab coats and gloves where appropriate.
• Comply with all legal regulations set out by the Zambian Government or GNC.
• Assist with any orders and requests for supplies from pharmacy.
• Any other duties assigned by the Unit Leaders, supervisors or Clinic
• Manager within the midwifery scope of practice.