This course illustrates the different roles of maternity care assistants (MCA) or support workers (MSW). It starts by describing the role and responsibilities that maternity care assistants provide in the healthcare system and their crucial contribution to the well-being of mothers and babies. Following that, you will study the importance of work experience in training to be a MCA and the knowledge required to excel in the role.

One of the first steps in embarking on the maternity care support profession is to understand medical terminology to communicate with other healthcare practitioners like midwives, nurses and obstetricians. The next section is related to the development of the maternal workforce and outlines what duties maternity care assistants can and cannot legally perform. You will learn about supporting and educating a pregnant woman throughout the antenatal period, ensuring that she is prepared both physically and psychologically for childbirth and motherhood.

The course then focuses on normal labour and birth, and the role and responsibilities of the maternity care assistant, highlighting how an understanding of anatomy and physiology informs care provision and ensures a woman-centred approach. You will discover why the postnatal period is a crucial time of adaptation. Newborn nurturing will be explained, as well as infant feeding choices. The final section discusses infant infection and the third stage of labour.