Keywords: newborn care specialist, baby nurse, night nurse, day nurse, NYC, newborn
Newborn Care Specialists (NCS) are a critical part of the maternity care team. They provide professional support and guidance to new mothers, fathers, and other family members during their baby’s early days. As they work closely with new parents, Newborn Care Specialists are able to help ensure that families have all the information they need to support the baby and mom.
A Newborn Care Specialist is sometimes called a “baby nurse” but most of them are not a Registered Nurse (RN) . To be a registered nurse you must earn a BSN degree , pass a state license and Board Exams ( check your state for licensing). To be more specific, Newborn Care Specialists (NCS ) provide newborn education and support for a number of issues like:
Postpartum health
Breastfeeding and nutrition
Infant safety topics
Nighttime/Daytime baby care
Burping and Soothing Techniques
Umbilical/circumcision care
Postpartum Depression (PPD) support
Baby Laundry & Monitoring Supplies
Newborn/ Infant development milestones
Sleep training
Colic
And so much m
Is a Newborn Care Specialist (NCS) like a Night Nanny or Postpartum Doula?
A Newborn Care Specialist( NCS) and a night nanny are not the same thing. While both are childcare professionals who can help new parents, their services differ in some crucial ways. A Newborn Care Specialist (NCS) is more similar to a postpartum doula than a night nanny because she will be spending most of her time helping you with the baby by educating and supporting you during your 4th trimester.
A night nanny provides assistance only at night when you're sleeping and usually under the direct influence of the parents. While they may have training or experience with newborn babies, they might not have a Newborn Care Specialist's NCS) extensive education background, training and mostly experience.
A postpartum doula focuses their skills and education on care for the parents. In contrast, a Newborn Care Specialist is more focused on the health and development of the baby. This can be something to consider if you want someone to hold your hand or soothe your child while they adjust to life outside the womb.
Newborn Care Specialists(NCS) can perform some tasks that postpartum doulas cannot do—for example, checking for jaundice (yellowing of the skin caused by too much bilirubin in the blood) and making sure that babies are feeding well from their mother's milk supply—but they usually don't offer as much hands-on support as a postpartum doula does for the parents.
What are the Qualifications of a Newborn Care Specialist (NCS)?
There are certifications an NCS can get, including the Newborn Care Specialist Association (NCSA) certification that provides training, hours of experience, Infant and child CPR training and verifies the recipient has gone through a background check. This kind of vetting ensures a more secure choice for families with a baby coming home.
Besides that, the most important thing will be experience and referrals. You want to work with an NCS with stellar reviews from other families they have worked with before and the experience to handle your specific situation. For example, you wouldn’t want a NCS that has not worked with twins when hiring one for your own set of twins. So, experience is a must.
What are the Benefits of Hiring an NCS?
First and foremost, you will get more sleep and need rest to heal! An NCS is someone you can rely on to help care for your newborn so you can heal and rest from those late-night feedings. They will teach and guide you how to take care of your newborn baby in every way possible, from feeding to bathing correctly and everything in between. This knowledge can help keep both you and your newborn safe while ensuring they're comfortable at all times during this vulnerable early stage in their lives. They'll also teach you how to read milestones signals of your unique child so you can better meet their needs and be a more confident when caring for your newborn when the NCS ended their tenure with your family.
Where to Get Started
All parents feel overwhelmed at times. It’s completely natural to want help raising a child and finding those precious moments for sleep. Our placement team at Kids and Kaboodles Nanny Agency of NYC provides direct access to quality newborn care specialists with the backgrounds, education, experience, and passion for helping you and your baby get the care you need, especially during postpartum periods. We have daily, weekly and monthly placement to satisfy meet your household needs and request.
If you would like to learn more about how an NCS can help build the physical and emotional support you need during the early stages of parenthood, reach out to our team and schedule a consult for a NCS placement. We guarantee placement and support with an NCS. If a candidate falls through due to an unforeseen situation, we always have qualified candidates to fill in the spot. We want each of you to know that we work hard to remove the stress of hiring an NCS for when the baby is on the way. We look forward to finding a solution for your newborn baby!