Interview Techniques

An important aspect of finding the right Maternity Nurse is to personally interview them. This will give you a good idea of their personality and how they will fit into your household.

If you are unable to meet a candidate that you really like after a telephone interview, it is possible to provisionally book, subject to interview at a later date. This will ensure that the candidate is not put forward to other clients before you have had chance to meet each other and confirm dates. Once you feel you have found the right person we suggest that you check some of the references provided. To avoid disappointment we suggest that you do this as quickly as possible.

Generally the first interview will take the form of a telephone interview, where you can get a general feel for the maternity nurse and assess her suitability. We then recommend that if possible you meet up. Meeting the candidate at home is always the preferred venue as she will be able to see the environment in which she may possibly be living and working in.

The aim of an interview is to:

• Meet and familiarise yourself with the Maternity Nurse, her personality and judge whether you will be able to work/live with her;
• Discuss your ideas on how you see the Maternity Nurse working;
• Allow the Maternity Nurse to meet you and other members of your family;
• Allow the Maternity Nurse to see her possible working environment.

Interviewing can be time-consuming for both parents and Maternity Nurses and therefore it is advised that you start with a telephone call to see if you would like to proceed to the interview stage. If you like the sound of the Maternity Nurse, arrange to see them at a mutually convenient time remembering that Maternity Nurses generally only have one free day off a week.

Below is a rough guide of points you may wish to cover at interview.

• The most important point to remember is to prepare yourself before you start interviewing. This will save time and allow you to relax and get to know the Maternity Nurse.
• Ideally the interview will take place at the booking location. If this is not possible, try and give the Maternity Nurse an idea of the type of area, accommodation and facilities you have around you.
• A tour of your house/flat can be a good ice-breaker and an opportunity to discuss the nursery, meal arrangements, sleeping arrangements and aspects of privacy.
• Do try to list a 'Job Description' for your Maternity Nurse and discuss their compatibility with your requirements.

Topics that we feel are useful to cover include:

• Will the maternity nurse share the room with the baby or will the baby be in the room with you;
• Use of dummies;
• Does the candidate have the baby in bed with her and your feelings about this;
• Time off during the day for walks, catching up on sleep etc;
• Views on routine i.e. how strict she is about feeding times, when the baby can be picked up, remembering that it is her duty to settle the baby;
• Views on mixed feeding and expressing;
• Do you want her to take control of the nights or do you want to share the night duty? i.e. If breastfeeding do you want to get up at night of should she bring the baby in to you;
• Privacy - in terms of the family’s meal times and evenings;
• If there are siblings to consider, discuss the relationship you want the Maternity Nurse to have with the siblings and their Nanny, Mothers Help etc. as relevant;
• Does she go home on her day(s) off;
• Flexibility of dates

As Maternity Nurses are all self-employed, it is also advisable to ascertain whether they have their own contract and/or charge a deposit. This would then bring up topics such as Bank Holidays and cancellation clauses. If they do not have their own contract we do provide a standard contract for all bookings.

If you then decide to book the Maternity Nurse there should be no dispute about any aspects of the job.

A good way to introduce these topics and others is to ask the Maternity Nurse to describe a typical day. The Maternity Nurse will have a wealth of knowledge on general baby care and can advise on nursery items and baby equipment.

Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

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