A Perthshire care home manager is starting to wonder if there’s “something is in the water” as a baby boom hits her care team.

Six Care Assistants at Balhousie Ruthven Towers care home in Auchterarder have either had a baby or are pregnant. This has left home manager Emma Roberts with a significant recruitment challenge.

“Two members of the team have had babies in the past few months and three more recently went on maternity leave”, explained Emma. “Another of our team of Care Assistants is due a baby in the spring as well, so we will soon have six of our full time Care Assistants on maternity leave at the same time.”

While delighted for so many of her team hearing the pitter-patter of tiny feet, Emma is actively looking for people to fill their shoes over the coming months. Emma said: “By coincidence, they are all Care Assistants so we are actively looking for people interested in care roles. No previous experience is required but you just need to be over 18-years-old and enjoy a challenging, but hugely rewarding working environment.”

Two of the pregnant Care Assistants, Beth Ross (22) and Kelly McPhee (23) both recently went on maternity leave and are both due their first babies days apart. “I’m due the 27th December and Kelly’s due the 31st,” said Beth. “Because of the type of work we do, it is difficult to work close to your due date so we have gone on maternity leave a few months before our due dates.”

Emma added: “The work involved in being a carer can be physical so to ensure the wellbeing of our pregnant team members, their finishing dates had to be mindful of how they have been handling the work.  Kelly, Beth and all of our pregnant team members did brilliantly well and can now relax before they get a whole new kind of challenge!”

As well as recruiting for Care Assistants, Balhousie Ruthven Towers is also looking for a chef. To find out more or apply email careers@balhousiecare.co.uk or call Emma directly on 01764 664192. You can also see all job vacancies on Balhousie’s Facebook page and clicking on the ‘Job’s tab.