Maternity nurse, night nanny or live-in nanny: support for a newborn

It depends on when you need help and for how long: a maternity nurse for the first weeks, a night nanny for nights, or a live-in nanny for months or years. Check her legal route too. Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 (opens in a new tab) allows a domestic worker to be employed only with a MOHRE work permit.

MOHRE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, issues domestic workers' work permits. We found no official page that defines a maternity nurse or a night nanny, so this guide compares the three by what each involves, using the duties MaidMatch describes for newborn care and for nannies. In the end, what counts is the job you agree and put in writing.

What is the difference between a maternity nurse and a nanny?

Mainly the focus, and how long she stays. A maternity nurse usually concentrates on a newborn in the first weeks after the birth. A nanny looks after your child day to day and can stay as your child grows.

The closest role MaidMatch describes to a maternity nurse is newborn care: a helper who looks after your baby in the first months, with feeds, sleep routines, bathing and nappy changes, while supporting you as new parents. Its newborn care page lists help with feeding, safe sleep routines, hygiene, nappy changing and bath time, and guidance and support for new parents.

Its nanny page describes a wider job: supervising babies and children, feeding and hygiene, activities and routines, and school preparation and child safety. A night nanny sits in between. Her job is the baby's nights, so that you can sleep.

Whatever the title, it doesn't tell you her training. Ask each candidate what qualifications she holds and what newborn care she has given (see the licence question below).

Which option suits your family?

The one that fills your gap. Think about when you need help, for how long, and whether she will live with you:

• You mainly need sleep. A night nanny takes the nights, for as many weeks as you need.
• You'd like experienced hands in the first weeks. A maternity nurse, or a nanny with plenty of newborn experience, can set up feeding and sleep routines and show you how.
• You need help for months or years. A live-in nanny with newborn experience can help by day and with some nights, and stay as your child grows.
• You have twins, or want help round the clock. Plan for more than one person, or for sharing the nights, because the law entitles every domestic worker to daily rest (see below).
• You're going back to work. A live-in nanny gives you cover for the longer term. Our guide to live-in and live-out helpers compares the two arrangements.

You can also combine them, for example a night nanny for the first weeks while a live-in nanny settles in. For the wider roles, see our guide to maid, nanny, caregiver or housekeeper.

How can a maternity nurse or night nanny legally work for you?

Through a recruitment office that MOHRE has licensed, or with a MOHRE work permit if you sponsor her yourself. As of September 2026, MOHRE recognises three packages from licensed recruitment offices: Traditional, where the worker is on the family's own file and lives with the family; Temporary, where a worker registered with the office works for the family; and Flexible, where a worker registered with the office works for the family by the hour, day, week, month, six months or year.

For nights or a few weeks, the Flexible package is a route MOHRE sets out. Under MOHRE's operations manual for recruitment agencies, the agency sponsors the worker in the Temporary package and holds the worker's visa in the Flexible package, and in both it pays the worker's salary, legal entitlements and medical costs.

The Flexible package also limits her hours, which matters at night. Under MOHRE's operations manual for recruitment agencies, a worker on the Flexible package may not work more than 8 hours a day, and the agency provides housing and transport to and from the family, compensates the family for damage the worker causes, and refunds unused hours if the arrangement ends early. So agree the hours of each shift before you book, and ask the office whether it covers nights and newborns at all.

Before you pay, check the office on MOHRE's list of approved domestic worker service centres (opens in a new tab), many of them branded Tadbeer, or call MOHRE on 600 590000. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, recruiting domestic workers or placing them temporarily requires a MOHRE licence, and doing either without one is punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of AED 200,000 to AED 1,000,000, or both. Our guide to Tadbeer centres explains how they work.

If you want her to live with you for the first weeks

Check the route before you agree anything. On a Flexible package the office provides her housing (see above). If you sponsor her yourself, the permit runs longer than a few weeks. For example, MOHRE issues a domestic worker's permit for one year when the sponsor is an expatriate resident without a Golden Visa. We found no official page that describes a live-in arrangement for just a few weeks, so ask a licensed office, or MOHRE on 600 590000, which route fits.

Not on a visit visa, and not another family's helper

She may not start work on a visit or tourist visa, even for a few weeks, because the Decree-Law allows a domestic worker to be employed only with a MOHRE work permit. That includes a maternity nurse or nanny who flies in for the birth. Employing a domestic worker without a work permit for that job is punishable by a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 200,000.

Another family's helper may not do your nights on the side either. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker may not work for anyone other than their employer, except as its Executive Regulations or MOHRE decisions allow. We found no official page that lists those exceptions. MOHRE also warns that families who hire from unauthorised sources can be held liable for employing and illegally sheltering a worker who is in breach of the rules.

Our guide to own-visa, visit-visa and part-time help explains what is legal.

If a company sends her

We found no official page that explains how companies that send nurses or nannies to your home fit the domestic worker rules. If you use one, ask who employs and sponsors the person who comes, and check with MOHRE on 600 590000 if you're unsure.

Does a maternity nurse need a nursing licence?

We found no official page that says whether a maternity nurse who works in a family home needs a healthcare licence, for example from the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) or Abu Dhabi's Department of Health (DOH). If you want nursing care rather than newborn care, ask the health authority for your emirate what applies, and ask her what qualifications she holds.

What the official pages do list are the domestic occupations. MOHRE's employer guide lists nanny/babysitter and personal healthcare provider (home nurse) among the domestic occupations, but we found no official page that says which occupation fits a maternity nurse. If you sponsor her yourself, ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before you apply, because the occupation decides whether you must pay her through the Wage Protection System (WPS).

Paying a domestic worker through the Wage Protection System is mandatory for private trainers, private tutors, personal healthcare providers, personal PROs and private agricultural engineers, and optional for housemaids, nannies, cooks, drivers, housekeepers, gardeners, security guards and similar roles. Our guide to paying through WPS has more.

Can a live-in nanny do the night feeds?

Yes, if you agree it before she starts and she still gets the rest the law requires. Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 sets two rules:

• A domestic worker is entitled to at least 12 hours of rest a day, of which at least 8 must be consecutive.
• A domestic worker is entitled to one paid day off a week.

So if she does the night feeds, plan when she sleeps, and don't count on one person to cover every day and every night. Our guide to days off and working hours has the detail.

Agree the job in writing. A domestic worker's contract must be on MOHRE's standard form and state, among other terms, the nature and place of the work and the worker's total pay and how it is paid. Changing it later has a condition. An employer may not give a domestic worker a different kind of work from the contracted job unless the worker explicitly agrees and the new job is one of the listed domestic occupations.

What sponsoring a live-in nanny involves

If you sponsor her yourself, MOHRE's conditions for sponsors apply. To sponsor a domestic worker, an expatriate resident needs a recent salary certificate showing a family income of at least AED 25,000. Our guide to who can sponsor a maid covers the other conditions.

A live-in nanny lives in your home. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, the employer must provide a domestic worker with suitable accommodation. We found no official page that defines suitable accommodation; our guide to maid room requirements covers setting up her room.

If you'd rather not sponsor her, ask a licensed office about its Temporary package (see above). Our guide to hiring a maid in the UAE covers the main routes.

What does each option cost?

It depends on the route, and we found no official page that publishes what maternity nurses or night nannies charge. What you pay for each:

• A licensed office's package. MOHRE's employer guide says its approved recruitment offices offer recruitment prices determined by the Ministry, but we found no official page that publishes those prices. Under MOHRE's operations manual for recruitment agencies, an agency must use MOHRE-approved package prices, display them, and not charge anything extra, so ask for the price in writing.
• A company's nurse or nanny. Ask for a written quote that says which hours, nights and weeks it covers.
• A live-in nanny you sponsor. Her monthly salary, plus the costs of sponsoring her. Our guides to maid visa costs and a first-year budget break them down.

For her salary, start from what she asks. Each helper lists her own salary range on her profile. On 29 September 2026, the 99 helpers available on MaidMatch had a median asking salary of AED 3,000 a month. Most of them listed newborn care, so the figure is much the same for helpers who list it. These are asking salaries on one platform, not a market survey; our salary guide has more.

What should you look for in a newborn nanny?

Real experience with newborns, and references from the families she did it for. MaidMatch's newborn care page suggests looking for:

• Experience with newborns.
• A gentle and patient approach.
• A safety-first mindset.
• Clear references from families whose babies she looked after.

Its nanny page adds basic first-aid knowledge. Then ask about the job itself: how she handles night feeds and settling, which safe sleep routine she follows, how she supports breastfeeding or bottle feeding, and what she did for the last newborn she looked after.

Our interview questions help you compare helpers fairly, and our guide to checking references and documents shows what to look at. Choose on skills and experience, not nationality: our guide to choosing a helper explains why.

How can MaidMatch help?

By helping you find a nanny with newborn experience. Most helpers listed on MaidMatch are already in the UAE and ready to work. MaidMatch is a free platform for families: they can browse every profile at no cost, with no registration or subscription required.

This list shows only helpers who list experience with newborns on MaidMatch. On the helpers page you can also filter for experience with babies under 2 and for live-in or live-out, and sort by salary. Families contact helpers directly on WhatsApp, through the Hire button on each profile.

Sponsorship is the employer's responsibility; families can manage the visa themselves or ask MaidMatch to connect them with its visa partners. For nights only or a few weeks, a licensed office's Flexible package is a route MOHRE sets out (see above).