Mother/Baby Travel Nursing Jobs

Mother/Baby RN

Mother/baby RNs, alternately called postpartum RNs or maternity RNs, help each baby they serve get the right start in life, while also helping new moms and dads get the guidance and support needed to begin parenthood. Like most areas in healthcare, there’s a growing demand for mother/baby nurses and other healthcare professionals to work in this area. This consistent need means there are many high-paying travel mother/baby jobs throughout the nation! If you’re a mother/baby RN, mother/baby LPN, or work in another related role, keep reading to learn more and explore nationwide job opportunities that just might be your perfect fit.

Benefits of Travel Nursing for Mother/Baby RNs

Mother/baby RNs who go into travel nursing benefit by avoiding nurse burnout while still sharing their well-honed skills and much-appreciated talent with facilities nationwide where they’re needed the most. Of course, as a nurse, your work will remain demanding, but with the variety of new locations and facilities to choose from, travel nursing is a fantastic way to stay fresh, motivated, and centered on providing great patient care. Travel nurses also report that working as a traveler is a wonderful way to continue to sharpen your clinical skills, gain more experience, and build your resume, all while you explore the country and all the many professional and personal opportunities available to you!

What Does a Mother/baby RN Do?

Mother/baby nurses play a huge part in supporting mothers and babies (and even families) immediately after a child’s birth. As mentioned, mother/baby RNs are also sometimes called postpartum RNs or maternity RNs. These nurses take the baton from labor & delivery nurses immediately after labor, monitoring for any acute postpartum or longer-term needs the mother or baby may have, while also assessing both mother and baby health at large. These assessments can involve intense observation and testing to make sure all is well, and no postpartum conditions or concerns arise. Mother/baby RNs educate mothers on breastfeeding and bathing, discuss future contraception and timelines for recovery/sexual activity, give meds and immunizations as requested or required, and — since babies don’t come with instruction manuals — are there to answer any new-parent questions. It’s also up to these nurses to help create a calm, comfortable space for the postpartum experience as well as to provide any resources or referrals a mother may need upon leaving the facility.

To succeed working as a mother/baby RN, you must be good with infants and new mothers, have a calm and kind demeanor, be excellent at explaining new information, be a keen observer who’s great at monitoring for potential postpartum concerns, think quickly on your feet, and be an excellent communicator.

A mother/baby RN’s ultimate goals are to ensure that mothers and babies have everything they need in the postpartum environment, that any potential emergent health issues are recognized and treated, that any routine postpartum needs are addressed, that a mother (and sometimes partner and/or family members) receive necessary education, and that mother and baby are ultimately discharged in a timely manner and with everything they need to succeed.

Where Do Mother/baby RNs Work?

Mother/baby nurses most often work in acute hospital settings, typically in the postpartum or mother/baby unit. They are often present in the delivery room with labor & delivery staff as well. Outside of hospitals, mother/baby RNs can also work in reproductive health or OB/GYN offices, government/military facilities, home health settings, community-based healthcare centers, via telehealth, in educational settings, and other such places.

Who Works with Mother/baby RNs?

Depending on the setting, mother/baby nurses work with a multidisciplinary team of fellow healthcare and administrative professionals. They are most likely to work with labor and delivery nurses, LPNs, techs, doulas, infant nursery managers, OB/GYN and other doctors, social workers, charge/clinical coordinators, surgeons, specialists, therapists, dieticians, clinical pharmacists, clinical psychologists, and administrative staff.

How is a Mother/baby RN Different from a Labor & Delivery RN?

Mother/baby nurses and labor & delivery (L&D) nurses are basically in the same ballpark, but each plays a different position. L&D RNs step up to the plate during labor and birth, while mother/baby RNs take their turn at bat immediately after birth and throughout the postpartum stay. So, while both specialties work with newborns and mothers, the L&D nurse does their part first then passes the baton to the mother/baby nurse.

Who’s Treated by Mother/baby RNs?

This one’s pretty self-descriptive! The patients mother/baby nurses largely care directly for are mothers and babies. However, these RNs also serve families at large at this very exciting, yet sometimes anxious, time in their lives.

Quick Mother/baby RN Facts

• Commonly required mother/baby RN education: Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) and/or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), plus passing the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX)
• Commonly required mother/baby RN certifications: Basic Life Support (BLS), Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
• Commonly preferred mother/baby RN certifications: Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
• Commonly required experience to become a mother/baby RN: Facilities typically require a minimum of two years of recent, in-hospital experience to hire you as mother/baby travel nurse. To protect your license and preserve patient care, you’ll want the benefit of this experience before jumping into a travel RN career!
• Average mother/baby RN salary range: $65,500-$115,000

Locations where mother/baby RNs are in high demand: Like many nursing roles, demand for mother/baby RNs is growing nationwide! Several states like Washington, Maryland, New York, Virginia, Nebraska, Delaware, Idaho, and California reflect high demand for mother/baby RNs boasting the highest average salaries for that role.