The Role of the Maternity Nurse: Expert Support in Those Precious Early Weeks

What does a Maternity Nurse do?

A maternity nurse is a specialist in newborn care, typically working on a live-in basis for between four weeks and three months after the birth of a baby. Unlike a nanny or night nurse, a maternity nurse focuses entirely on the mother and newborn, providing around-the-clock care, often working a six-day week, covering nights as well as days.

Their responsibilities span a wide range: establishing feeding routines (whether breast or bottle), settling the baby into gentle sleep patterns, supporting the mother’s physical and emotional recovery and offering reassurance at every turn. Many maternity nurses are also trained midwives or paediatric nurses, bringing a depth of clinical knowledge that families find deeply reassuring.

Beyond practical care, a skilled maternity nurse is also a teacher. They guide new parents through confident nappy changes, bathing, winding, and understanding their baby’s cues, passing on knowledge so that when they leave, the family feels capable and self-assured.

Cora Maternity Nurse placements: A closer look

Every placement we make at Cora is shaped around the unique needs of each family. Below are three examples of maternity nurse placements that illustrate both the breadth of our network and the care we take in matching.

First time mother, relocating expat family | Dubai, UAE

A British couple based in Dubai were expecting their first child and had no family nearby to call on. The mother, a high-achieving professional, was anxious about navigating new motherhood far from home. Cora placed a highly experienced maternity nurse with 18 years of newborn care behind her, who flew out ahead of the due date and stayed for ten weeks. She established a gentle feeding and sleep routine in the first fortnight, providing the mother with the confidence and rest she needed to recover well. By the time she departed, both parents described feeling fully equipped — and far calmer than they had imagined possible.

Honouring cultural traditions | London, UK

A family of Chinese heritage approached Cora with a very specific brief: they wished to observe Zuo Yue Zi – the traditional Chinese post-natal confinement period – and needed a maternity nurse who would respect and work within those practices. This meant the mother resting completely, avoiding cold foods and drinks, specific dietary requirements, and limiting visitors and activity. Cora sourced a maternity nurse with direct experience of supporting families through confinement, who worked seamlessly alongside the family’s wider household team. The placement was a great success, with the mother describing it as having given her the full recovery she had hoped for, underpinned by cultural understanding and genuine sensitivity.

Globally mobile family, new arrival | London, South of France & beyond

A UHNW family with a London base and a lifestyle spanning Europe and Southeast Asia were expecting a new addition to their already busy household. With three older children, a full household staff, and a principal who continued to travel throughout the later stages of pregnancy, they needed a maternity nurse who was as comfortable on a plane as she was in a nursery. Flexibility, a valid passport, and an unflappable temperament were as important as clinical expertise.

Cora placed a highly experienced maternity nurse with a strong international background, who joined the family two weeks before the due date and within the first month had accompanied them to their villa in the South of France and onto Singapore. She maintained the baby’s routine across time zones with impressive consistency and integrated seamlessly into the existing household team. The placement ran for fourteen weeks across four countries, and by the end, the new arrival had settled beautifully into family life with far less disruption than anyone had anticipated.

Twin maternity nurse, rural Oxfordshire, UK

When a family in rural Oxfordshire discovered they were expecting twins, they knew immediately that additional support would be essential. Cora identified a specialist twin maternity nurse (a relatively rare qualification) who had extensive experience synchronising the routines of two babies simultaneously, a skill that makes an enormous practical difference for exhausted parents. Working across days and nights for twelve weeks, she had both babies on a reliable feeding and sleep schedule within three weeks, and the parents reported sleeping four to five consecutive hours within the first month – something they had not dared to hope for. Her approach was calm, structured, and deeply reassuring throughout.

“We didn’t realise how much we didn’t know. Our maternity nurse didn’t just care for our baby, she gave us the confidence to become parents.”