Newborn specialists provide basic care for babies and help parents create safe environments. While certification is not required, taking courses in newborn care and first aid can be beneficial. Jobs can be found through self-promotion or agencies.
Newborn specialists help provide all the basic care babies need during their first few months of life, such as feeding, diapering, and baby care. They also share their expertise to help parents develop routines and create safe environments for their babies. The job often requires you to work overnight, as this is when many parents need the most help. While you can become an expert with newborns without special training, you will need to be very familiar with all the elements of caring for a newborn.
Although newborn specialists have been called “baby nurses,” they are not nurses in the medical sense. You don’t need advanced medical training to become a newborn specialist, but taking a basic first aid course is a good idea. Look for one that teaches newborn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to handle medical emergencies and challenges. Even if you have attended CPR and adult rescue courses in the past, you may benefit from these courses; procedures for dealing with newborns are completely different. Knowing you have the tools to handle an emergency can help you feel more confident and give you an edge when applying for positions to become a newborn specialist.
Certification is generally not required, but you may want to take a few classes before becoming a newborn specialist, just to make sure you understand all the basics of newborn care. Online courses are available and usually require reading material and taking a proficiency test. These classes are great if you just want to expand your own knowledge, but because they don’t have a verification process to ensure you’re responsible for the test, they might not carry much weight in the field. Check with your local community college or vocational training school to find out if they offer classes in newborn care, as these institutions often provide certificates to individuals who have completed these courses. Nanny agencies may also offer training.
When you feel ready to start applying for jobs to become a newborn specialist, you can try selling yourself or applying to an agency. If you want to do this yourself, placing an ad in the newspaper or advertising on bulletin boards in areas frequented by expectant mothers and new mothers is a good idea. Just make sure you have permission to post a flyer on a bulletin board. Agencies are good options if you want someone else to do your marketing for you. When you are accepted into an agency, they will help you find a job.
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