Newborn Care Specialists
Whether you are expecting your first child or your fifth, you might consider hiring a newborn care specialist. A newborn care specialist (NCS) is a non-medical person who is highly skilled in newborn care. She may have gained that skill through personal experience or advanced education. The goal of a newborn care specialist is to make the time you spend with your newborn as enjoyable, educational, and rewarding as possible.
“I work mostly with first-time mothers, but not always,” says Darcy Csank, a highly trained and experienced newborn care specialist based in northeast Ohio. “Sometimes it is their third or fourth child, and they have their hands full. Often, I work with new parents with multiples.” Darcy has a college degree, training as governess, and a newborn care specialist certificate. Her current job is as a night NCS of triplets.
Most newborn care specialists help to provide a basic framework for caring for your newborn, information about current concepts in newborn care, and much-needed support for the mother. They usually start working for a family within the first few days (if not hours!) of coming home with a new baby.
The cost of a newborn care specialist varies depending on her experience level and the job that she is hired to perform. Some work during the challenging nighttime hours, which can demand higher wages than daytime assistance. If she is asked to help with older children or with multiples, the price may also be higher. In general, the cost of a newborn care specialist ranges from $13 per hour to $30 per hour and up. A newborn care specialist may be able to work within a family’s budget to provide optimum coverage within their constraints.
The duration and schedule of a newborn care specialist’s help is unique to each family. Most commonly, a NCS is hired to help with a varied schedule of daytime and nighttime hours for the first two to 12 weeks. Some families prefer to have a NCS work around the clock for the first few weeks. Other parents prefer to have only overnight care to help them get consolidated sleep. Occasionally, parents that need to return to work at six weeks will hire a newborn care specialist for the first three months before transitioning to a longer-term nanny.
A trained newborn care specialist will have the skills to provide new parents with information on bathing, diapering, swaddling, skin care, infant massage, and feeding support – both breast and bottle. Some NCSs have skill sets and experience in working with multiples, premature infants, apnea monitors, reflux management (GERD), lactation support, and feeding issues.
If you are thinking about hiring a newborn care specialist, be sure that your personalities are compatible. You are inviting someone into your home that will be with you at a very special time in your family’s life, so make sure that she not only has the knowledge that you will need, but also that you feel you would get along with her. When checking her references, look for people to describe a newborn care specialist as supportive, educational, appropriate, and helpful.
Most newborn care specialists require that the family sign a contract with the intent to hire them, which is a good idea to protect you, as well as the NCS. The hiring family should be careful when signing a contract that there is no clause allowing a NCS to break the contract “for any reason” prior to the birth of the baby. This practice is not uncommon among NCSs, allowing them to take the most lucrative job available at that time, but possibly leaving new parents without assistance at the last minute.
With proper research and screening, hiring a newborn care specialist can be a very rewarding part of welcoming your new baby into your life. Your perfect newborn care specialist may be out there waiting to help you bring your baby home.