Newborn and baby care in the UAE

She takes on the baby's day-to-day care, so you can rest and recover. MaidMatch describes the typical duties of the role as:

• Help with feeding, and keeping to a feeding routine
• Safe sleep routines, following the routine you choose for your baby
• Hygiene and nappy changing, and bath time
• Guidance and support for new parents, from settling the baby to building a routine

Before the birth if you can. Hiring takes time: you need to find the right helper, agree the job and arrange her work permit and residence. Our guide to how long it takes to hire a maid explains the official time limits.

Decide what help you need first: night feeds, day-time care, or both, and whether you want her to stay on as your child's nanny once the first months are over. If you want a longer-term helper from the start, compare nannies too.

It is the same kind of work, focused on the first months: feeding, sleep and hygiene for a newborn, rather than activities and school runs for older children. A nanny may have looked after babies too, so compare the helpers on this page with nannies who list experience with newborns. Our guide to choosing between a maid, a nanny, a caregiver and a housekeeper explains how the roles differ.

Experience with newborns first, then the right temperament. Choose on skills and experience, not nationality. MaidMatch suggests looking for:

• Experience with newborns: ask how many babies she has cared for, and from what age.
• A gentle, patient approach, especially at night and during feeds.
• A safety-first mindset, from safe sleep to hygiene around the baby.
• Clear references from families with babies, who can tell you how she handled the first months.

Ask her to walk you through a day and a night with a newborn. For example:

• How did she organise feeds and sleep for the last baby she cared for?
• How does she settle a baby who won't stop crying?
• What hygiene steps does she take when she prepares bottles or changes nappies?
• What would she do if the baby had a fever or struggled to feed?
• How would she support you, and how would she keep you updated?
• Can you speak to families with newborns she has worked for?

Her rest rules apply every day, including the nights she helps with feeds. Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, the UAE's law on domestic workers, sets them, so plan when she sleeps if she helps at night:

• 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.

The whole job, in writing. The Decree-Law sets what her contract must cover, and MOHRE (the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation) sets the standard contract form. 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. Agree whether she will do night feeds, day-time care or both, which household tasks she will do alongside the baby, and her day off.

If the job changes later, the Decree-Law sets 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. We found no official page that says which everyday tasks count as a different kind of work, so talk any change through with her first.

It depends on the helper and the hours you need. Each helper lists her own salary range on her profile. When enough helpers match this page, it shows the median and middle range of their asking salaries. The official fees for her work permit and residence come on top, and our guide to hiring a maid in the UAE sets them out. Most helpers listed on MaidMatch are already in the UAE and ready to work.

In five steps:

1. Browse the helpers on this page and watch their video CVs.
2. Shortlist those with experience of newborns, and check their references.
3. Contact her directly. Families contact helpers directly on WhatsApp, through the Hire button on each profile.
4. Agree the job and her hours in writing, before the baby arrives if you can.
5. Arrange her visa. Sponsorship is the employer's responsibility; families can manage the visa themselves or ask MaidMatch to connect them with its visa partners.