Newborn Care Specialist Industry standards
Newborn care transforms over time, and it is important as a professional to understand the terminology, rates and responsibilities associated with being a Newborn Care Specialist as well as generally what to expect during a shift, and from a contract.
It is important to understand the difference between professional titles within the newborn care industry.
Everyone's path to becoming a Newborn Care Specialist looks a little different but we are all here to provide the best care for newborns and their families.
Newborn Care Specialist
A Newborn Care Specialist [NCS] is trained in newborn care, and specializes in the first 0-16 weeks of a baby's life. An NCS's primary focus is on the newborn, but they can also provide other support based on additional training/experience.
Night Nurse/Baby Nurse
A Night Nurse is a licensed RN or LPN that works with newborns. The term is commonly misused to refer to a Newborn Care Specialist. An NCS cannot ethically or legally refer to themselves as a nurse, unless they have a nursing degree.
Postpartum Doula
A Postpartum Doula [PPD] is trained to support a family during the postpartum period. A PPD typically focuses on a family as a whole and guides parents through recovery with newborn care and household support.
Night Nanny
A Night Nanny is a nanny that provides overnight care for newborns. They can provide basic newborn care. A night nanny typically has limited training [such as CPR/First Aid] but no other professional newborn or postpartum-focused trainings or certifications.
*We realize that Baby Nurse and Night Nurse are terms that parents have been using for generations and we are working on being part of the change in educating parents and professionals to use proper terminology.*
What are Newborn Care Specialist hourly rates?
and why do they vary so much?
When establishing your rates, there are numerous factors to take into account. Rates can vary from $30/hr in rural regions up to $75/hr or more in bigger metropolis cities, or where the cost of living is higher.
*Ultimately, a good rate is one where you feel appreciated/respected and also have enough consistent work. Month long gaps in your calendar are not worth a $5 an hour increase*
What type of trainings have you completed? Are you certified? Are you focusing on expanding your knowledge with continuing education? Do you attend conferences? Are you well versed in sleep conditioning? Or trained in RIE, montessori, or other specialized methods? These all play a factor when coming up with an hourly rate.
Experience matters. Have you worked with 10 babies or 100? Have you worked overnight, daytime and/or 24/7? Have you traveled with a family? Have you worked with a UHNW family or a Celebrity? Have you started with families from birth and stayed with them through many months?
Rates differ based on location, ranging from state to state and even city to city and. Cost of living has a huge impact on rates. It’s important for you to understand the range of what others are charging in your area and what families are willing to pay.
If the area you live in has a higher demand for in-home newborn care, and/or an oversaturation of caregivers, then the hourly rates are likely to be higher.
Sometimes, parents have requests that fall a bit outside of what is normal for in-home newborn care and the NCS will typically charge a higher rate. Some examples might be: awake care, babies with medical issues or additional household tasks.
How many babies will you be working with? The more babies, the higher the rate will typically be! $2-$5 is the average increase per baby, but some might charge more or less than this. If you have several sets of twins under your belt or have worked with triplets or high-order multiples you might charge more for your expertise. This only includes babies that are born at the same time. Babies with different birth dates [from two surrogates for example] will typically be charged as two separate babies.
A Newborn Care Specialist supports new parents during their most vulnerable period. Parents want to hire someone who is kind, communicative, professional and overall a good “fit”. Sometimes a certain NCS just has the *it* factor that parents are willing to pay more for.
Getting Paid as a Newborn Specialist
Are you working as a 1099 Independent contractor or a W2 employee? What's the industry standard? Did you find this job on your own, through a referral agency or are you working on a job through an agency as part of their team? The next section will go over the differences in how an NCS can be legally paid and the benefits, pitfalls and the “industry standard”.
Getting paid as an Independent Contractor vs a W-2 Employee
There are pros and cons to every payment method, and every state has different employment and tax laws. The industry standard for Newborn Care Specialists is to be paid as an Independent Contractor when parents are hiring a professional to come in and educate them on all aspects of newborn care. [typically from newborn - 6 months of age]. We understand that while it may be standard for Newborn Care Specialists to get paid as an independent contractor, some UHNW families prefer to pay as a W-2 employee. This is typically the case if you plan to work with a family for 6 months or more or if the family has a care plan that the NCS will be requested to follow.
*Make sure that you understand the laws in your area before accepting a contract/payment for a position.
Working individually:
As a Newborn Care Specialist you are providing the family with expert education and consulting services for newborn development and sleep. The family is hiring you as the expert to come in and teach them how to care for their infant.
Independent Contractors should have a business entity set up with an EIN, require a retainer for services, and provide invoices to the client. You should provide your own tools, have the option to offer backup and follow the IRS rules to be classified legally as such. An independent contractor must pay all of their own taxes and has no option for unemployment in between jobs. You can expect to pay about 30% of your wages towards taxes, but working with an accountant can help you navigate deductions and business expenses.
Working as an Independent Contractor allows more control over your schedule, and the tasks you are willing to do.
Working as a household employee means the family is hiring you to do a job that they outline. The family has more control over your schedule and also what tasks are to be done, when they will be done and where the work will be done. As an employee you are entitled to breaks, overtime and unemployment. The family also pays a portion of taxes. Sometimes these jobs pay less per hour to account for the additional costs to the families. Talking with a payroll company that is familiar with household employees like HomeWork Solutions or GTM Payroll Services is always recommended.
Working as a household employee while providing infant care under the direction of the family falls under the category of a nanny.
Talking with a payroll company that is familiar with household employees like HomeWork Solutions or GTM Payroll Services is always a good idea.
Working with an agency:
Agency jobs often pay less than private jobs, but the agency covers the legwork on finding the job, handles grievances/conflicts, and they should advocate for you. Working as a 1099 through an agency is industry standard, but that doesn’t mean the agency is set up to pay you as an independent contractor legally. The agency has to follow a multi-step test to be able to pay out an NCS as an Independent Contractor.
You won’t know the inner workings of the agency, but here are some things to look out for:
- They need to pay a LLC/DBA and not you as a person
- They need to pay an EIN number not your Social Security number
- They don’t require you to wear a certain uniform or dress code
- They ask that you invoice them your hours
- They ask you before matching you with a job
- They allow you to take jobs through yourself or other agencies
An agency paying you as an IC can’t control your schedule [you should be able to say no to jobs], they shouldn’t be training you, or controlling what you do on a shift etc.
Sometimes you might not work with/for an agency, but the agency might connect you with a family. In this instance the family pays the agency a flat fee for them to put together a file on you [as well as other potential candidates].
Once the family and the agency come to an agreement, if hired you would then work privately for the family. This might be as a 1099 through the family or a W2 through the family.
Typically the lowest paying option. This is because the agency is paying a portion of your taxes, as well as overtime along with having to maintain an agency overhead. However, it can offer the most consistent income. When you are an employee of an agency, their job is to keep you booked consistently.
An agency in this scenario controls the Newborn Care Specialist’s schedule and might ask you to go to jobs or locations that are not a good fit. It’s important that the agency you work with understands and respects your preferences, but ultimately as an employee you need to be prepared to do the work that is assigned to you.
Insurance as a Newborn Care Specialist
Carrying liability insurance is not required in our industry, but it’s always a good idea to have it in case anything happens while working with a newborn. As of now, the only liability insurance for Newborn Care Specialists is through CM+F. Many agencies and some families will require you to hold your own liability insurance. They also offer the option to add general liability insurance.
Contracts with Families
It is important to have a contract with every job. Ideally your contract has been looked over by a lawyer and/or purchased from a reputable source. A contract should be something that sets you up for success and something that you can reference the family back to if conflicts arise.
There are many things that should be included in a contract. If you are interested in purchasing an IC contract our NCSA CONTRACT TEMPLATE has been written by experts, reviewed by a variety of Newborn Care Specialists in the field, as well as evaluated by a lawyer.
We want all Newborn Care Specialists to be protected!
What to include in your NCS Contract:
The duration of the contract is very important. You should only guarantee your calendar for what is contracted for. For example: If a family books 8 weeks of care, they should not expect to be guaranteed to extend through a 9th week with you. Make sure to take into account that most babies are not born on their due date, and factor in when you are available from/until.
You should also have a very clear calendar of what shifts you will be available for. For example: Sun-Th 9pm-6am. And if they want to add hours/nights AND you are available they can do so.
It’s important to list out what you are comfortable with offering on a shift. For example: some Newborn Care Specialists will do laundry on overnight shifts and others will only do laundry on day shifts or 24/7 shifts. Some parents might expect housekeeping or awake care if your responsibilities are not laid out clearly in the contract.
It’s industry standard as an IC to require a retainer when a client books services. Retainers should be kept in a retainers only bank account and the funds should be only used once the baby is born or care starts. Using retainers ahead of time can result in not having the funds to offer a refund if there was a loss of pregnancy, stillbirth, or an adoption that didn’t go through.
You should also include details on when all payments by the family are due and what the total cost of the contract is. If you are an employee, your schedule along with your regular rate and your OT rate should be clearly listed.
Sometimes as a Newborn Care Specialist you might do SUCH a good job getting the baby into a routine that parents want to end the contract early. Or a family might find cheaper care last minute through another avenue of support.
There should be very clear reasons that are valid for the family to terminate a contract. You should also have reasons that you would end the contract, and what amount of the contract[if any] the family would still be responsible for.
Contracts with NCS Agencies
Some agencies will have you sign a contract for working with them. Other agencies will have you sign a contact for each job that you work on. It’s common for the contracts to specify general scope, schedule requests from the family, indemnification, NDA/non-compete of agency clients, pay and cancellation policies.
It’s important that if you are an Independent Contractor that the contract doesn’t prevent you from working privately, and that it offers you protection if the family decides to pull out of a job without cause. While it can be cost prohibitive for you to go after a family that refuses payment or cancels a contract on your own, an agency should be willing to fight for you.
Non-complete clauses as an Agency NCS
When working with an agency as an Independent Contractor, a non-compete is a standard practice that you might be asked to sign. The agency can legally ask you not to self-promote your private business to their clientele or a referral from their clientele.
However, an agency should NOT tell you not to work with other agencies or not to take on your own private clients that found you on their own. This is not a legal practice.
NCS Shift Types
What works best for you?
There are essentially three types of schedules that a Newborn Care Specialist will provide to a client. Daytime, overnight and 24/7 [a combination of day/overnight!] Any of these shifts can be live-in or live–out depending on the unique circumstances and situation. The tasks/responsibilities are not one size fits all. If you are a Postpartum Doula as well you might add additional support services, and alternatively some individuals have “standard” tasks that they are not comfortable providing.
DAYTIME
Shifts that happen between 8am - 8pm and typically with a 4 hour minimum. Typically the NCS lives locally, works 4-12 hours and goes home in-between.
OVERNIGHTS
Shifts that happen between 8pm - 8am and typically run 12 hours in length. Typically the NCS lives locally, works 8-12 hours and goes home in between.
24/7 CARE
Live-in “around the clock” newborn care. Most shifts range from 16-20 hour shifts for each 24 hour period with a 4-8 hour break. [*The industry standard is to bill for the working hours and not the break.] Some parents want true 24/7 care which requires being available all 24 hours a day and allow for rest when the baby sleeps. This is not typically recommended so that the NCS can be well-rested/provide safe care. Some 24/7 live-in care often involves travel.
What to Expect as a Newborn Care Specialist
STANDARD TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES YOU CAN EXPECT FOR ALL NCS SHIFTS:
- Diapering, umbilical cord, and circumcision care
- General newborn care/soothing
- Assisting the family with feeding issues, including formula feeding and facilitating breast/chestfeeding, as requested
- Preparing bottles (breastmilk and/or formula)
- Practicing proper breastmilk or formula storage
- Creating and implementing healthy feeding and sleeping schedule/routines to match the family’s needs
- Organizing & maintaining a clean nursery, including emptying the diaper pail, restocking diapers and wipes and keeping things tidy
- Assisting in establishing healthy age-appropriate sleep hygiene and habits
- Taking over solo care of the newborn as requested
- Recognizing potential signs of allergies, illnesses, disorders, developmental delays or disabilities and recommending an appropriate referral.
- Washing and sterilizing bottles/Pump Parts.
OVERNIGHT SHIFTS
- Washing all items that were used during the shift
DAY OR 24/7 SHIFTS
- Washing all items related to the newborn [even that were used with the parents]
- Bathing the newborn (typically during daylight hours or shifts that start >1 hour before baby’s bedtime)