Healthcare assistant to maternity support worker
A healthcare assistant already meets 50% of what the maternity support worker role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.
60.9/ 100
1 How much of what a maternity support worker is expected to do is already part of a healthcare assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the maternity support worker role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A maternity support worker role treats 18 of its required skills as things a healthcare assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- communicate with nursing staff
- comply with legislation related to health care
- comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice
- contribute to continuity of health care
- deal with emergency care situations
- empathise with the healthcare user
What stands in the way is 14 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 21 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A maternity support worker role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a healthcare assistant background worth leading with.
- already held work under supervision in care communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held identify abnormalities information skills
- already held communicate with nursing staff communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide basic support to patients assisting and caring
- already held work with nursing staff communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held support nurses communication, collaboration and creativity
All 21 carried skills, including the 18 the maternity support worker role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 29 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn assist on pregnancy abnormality required
- still to learn care for the new-born infant required
- still to learn provide postnatal care required
- still to learn provide pre-natal care required
- still to learn empathise with the woman's family during and after pregnancy required
- still to learn pregnancy required
- still to learn childbirth required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- optional, not held anaesthetics optional
- optional, not held analgesics optional
- optional, not held neonatology optional
- optional, not held postpartum period optional
- optional, not held preparation for child delivery optional
- optional, not held preparation for parenthood optional
- still to learn advise on family planning required
- still to learn advise on pregnancies at risk required
- still to learn advise on pregnancy required
- optional, not held apply context specific clinical competences optional
- optional, not held assess the course of breast-feeding period optional
- optional, not held promote health and safety optional
- optional, not held use different communication channels optional
- still to learn health education required
- optional, not held sex education optional
- still to learn examine the new-born infant required
- optional, not held monitor pregnancy optional
- still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a maternity support worker role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 advise on family planning practise this
- 02 advise on pregnancies at risk practise this
- 03 advise on pregnancy practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 21 skills that carry over
- already held communicate with nursing staff skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held deal with emergency care situations skill
- already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held identify abnormalities skill
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held monitor basic patients signs skill
- already held provide basic support to patients skill
- already held support nurses skill
- already held work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held work under supervision in care skill
- already held work with nursing staff skill
- already held distribute meals to patients skill
- already held have computer literacy skill
- already held provide health education skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held embryology optional
- optional, not held microbiology-bacteriology optional
- optional, not held use obstetric sonography optional
15 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held anaesthetics optional
- optional, not held analgesics optional
- optional, not held apply context specific clinical competences optional
- optional, not held assess the course of breast-feeding period optional
- optional, not held embryology optional
- optional, not held microbiology-bacteriology optional
- optional, not held monitor pregnancy optional
- optional, not held neonatology optional
- optional, not held postpartum period optional
- optional, not held preparation for child delivery optional
- optional, not held preparation for parenthood optional
- optional, not held promote health and safety optional
- optional, not held use obstetric sonography optional
- optional, not held sex education optional
- optional, not held use different communication channels optional
25 held skills the maternity support worker role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accept own accountability skill
- not needed by the target role adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- not needed by the target role apply organisational techniques skill
- not needed by the target role assist in the administration of medication to elderly skill
- not needed by the target role communicate in foreign languages with health service providers skill
- not needed by the target role convey medical routine information skill
- not needed by the target role develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- not needed by the target role disability care knowledge
- not needed by the target role disability types knowledge
- not needed by the target role educate on the prevention of illness skill
- not needed by the target role evaluate older adults' ability to take care of themselves skill
- not needed by the target role geriatrics knowledge
- not needed by the target role inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- not needed by the target role manage healthcare users' data skill
- not needed by the target role older adults' needs knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform cleaning duties skill
- not needed by the target role promote inclusion skill
- not needed by the target role respond to changing situations in health care skill
- not needed by the target role sterilization techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role support individuals to adjust to physical disability skill
- not needed by the target role use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- not needed by the target role use foreign languages for health-related research skill
- not needed by the target role use foreign languages in patient care skill
- not needed by the target role use technical equipment for sterilisation skill
14 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn pregnancy required
- still to learn childbirth required
- still to learn health education required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
- optional, not held anaesthetics optional
- optional, not held analgesics optional
- optional, not held embryology optional
- optional, not held microbiology-bacteriology optional
- optional, not held neonatology optional
- optional, not held postpartum period optional
- optional, not held preparation for child delivery optional
- optional, not held preparation for parenthood optional
- optional, not held sex education optional
Other moves recorded from healthcare assistant
- physiotherapy assistant 56% covered · substantial
- dental hygienist 54% covered · substantial
- dental technician 51% covered · substantial
- pharmacy assistant 50% covered · substantial
- dental chairside assistant 50% covered · substantial
- pharmacy technician 49% covered · substantial
- nurse assistant 48% covered · substantial
- specialist pharmacist 44% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a healthcare assistant become a maternity support worker?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A healthcare assistant already covers 50% of what a maternity support worker is expected to do: 21 skills carry over, 18 of which the maternity support worker role treats as required.
What skills does a healthcare assistant need to become a maternity support worker?
14 required skills are missing, plus 15 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is advise on family planning.
How hard is the move from healthcare assistant to maternity support worker?
Its learning distance is 60.9 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.