Labour Ward Coordinator

This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated, ambitious, and experienced midwife to join our Labour Ward Co-ordinator team at the University Hospital of North Durham. This role is ideal for an individual who is passionate about delivering high-quality maternity care and is keen to further develop their leadership, clinical, and management skills within a supportive and progressive service.

Our maternity service benefits from excellent facilities, including an alongside Midwife-Led Unit (MLU), consultant-led obstetric services, and a dedicated bereavement suite designed to provide compassionate care and support for birthing people and their families. Upon joining our organisation, you will undertake a supernumerary induction period to support your transition into the role. You will be welcomed into a supportive team environment and provided with opportunities to enhance your leadership and clinical expertise through our comprehensive Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes and the National Labour Ward Co-ordinator Framework.

We are committed to developing highly skilled and confident midwives who are empowered to provide exceptional care and leadership, ensuring the very best outcomes and experiences for the families of County Durham and Darlington.

Main duties of the job

As a Labour Ward Co-ordinator, you will provide visible clinical and operational leadership across the maternity service, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective, and compassionate care for women, birthing people, babies, and their families.

Job responsibilities

• Co-ordinating the day-to-day activity of the Labour Ward, ensuring resources, staffing levels, and skill mix are aligned to clinical demand and acuity.
• Providing clinical leadership and expert support to the multidisciplinary team, promoting high standards of evidence-based maternity care.
• Maintaining oversight of patient flow throughout the maternity service, facilitating timely admissions, transfers, and discharges to ensure safe and effective care delivery.
• Supporting the operational management of the Pregnancy Assessment Unit and Ante/Postnatal Ward during out-of-hours periods, ensuring safe staffing and service provision across all areas.
• Escalating capacity, staffing, and clinical safety concerns in line with local escalation policies and contributing to effective risk management.
• Acting as a professional role model, promoting a positive culture of teamwork, inclusion, and continuous improvement.
• Supporting and supervising midwives, newly qualified midwives, maternity support workers, and student midwives, fostering professional development and learning.
• Working in partnership with obstetric, anaesthetic, neonatal, and wider multidisciplinary colleagues to ensure coordinated and personalised care.
• Contributing to service development, quality improvement initiatives, clinical governance activities, and the implementation of national and local maternity standards.

The Labour Ward Co-ordinator is a senior clinical leadership role responsible for overseeing the safe, effective, and efficient running of the Labour Ward on a shift-by-shift basis. The post holder will coordinate maternity services, manage workload and acuity, and support the multidisciplinary team to ensure women, birthing people, babies, and families receive high-quality, personalised care. The post holder will have some responsibility for a group of midwives and maternity support workers for appraisal and development.

Person Specification

Experience

• High level of clinical expertise and sound knowledge of all birthing environments using an evidence-based approach.
• Knowledge of current issues and initiatives in public health, antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care.
• Able to manage sensitive or difficult situations effectively.
• IT skills including Microsoft Office, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Well-developed communication skills including the ability to communicate calmly, clearly and kindly whilst building and maintaining trusted and respectful relationships with all colleagues across the MDT.
• Able to lead with confidence and act with compassion for service users and all members of a team ensuring a culture of inclusivity and psychological safety.
• Ability to work on own initiative and take ownership of problems.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills.
• Committed to professional and personal development supported by reflective practice.
• Experience of linking with outside agencies and stakeholders.
• Participation in Quality Improvement activity.
• Participation in audit.

Special Skills & Knowledge

• Ability to provide written and verbal reports.
• Ability to independently travel across all CDDFT sites as required.

Qualifications

• Degree/diploma relevant to speciality.
• Significant experience within an acute maternity setting at Band 6 level.
• Evidence of relevant ongoing professional development.
• Recognised teaching/assessing qualification.
• Postgraduate certificate or Masters in health-related, management or leadership subject.
• Evidence of management training.
• Trained NIPE practitioner.

Statutory Registration

NMC midwife registrant.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.