Infant Feeding Maternity Support WorkerNHS

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dynamic and enthusiastic person to join the infant feeding team at CDDFT as a maternity support worker.

Our team works across County Durham and Darlington to provide specialist support to women and families experiencing feeding problems in the first weeks after birth. Infant feeding is at the forefront of public health and as part of the team you will be contributing to improved health outcomes across the region.

This a great opportunity for those interested in maternity care, infant feeding and public health to gain experience in this important area of maternity services.

We are a busy team and no two days are the same. We provide face to face and remote care to women in hospital and in community with their baby including in our specialist infant feeding clinic and for division of tongue tie. You would be involved in providing skilled support to get their feeding journey off to the best start.

As a team we also lead for UNICEF Baby Friendly accreditation for meternity services for the Trust and you will have the opportunity to be involved in service improvement and audit as we work to implement UNICEF standards for our families.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will privide care to women and families who need additional support with infant feeding. They will provide health promotion in pregnancy to advise on the values of breastfeeding and skilled support following birth with positioning and attachment.

Your duties will include:

Providing skilled support to women who are experiencing feeding problems in the first weeks after birth, gently supporting them to reach their feeding goals.

Supporting the specialist midwife in the infant feeding clinic during frenulotomy procedures.

Providing support in acute settings to both antenatal and postnatal inpatients to support informed decision making and getting feeding off to a good start.

Maintaining accurate records.

Undertaking audit of UNICEF standards.

Providing administrative support by maintaining clinic lists and clinic outcome records.

Job description

This post is a permanent, part time post working across sites within the Trust. You will be expected to work at University Hospital North Durham and Darlington Memorial Hospital. You may also be able to spend one day a week at a community site.

This role is an integral part of the infant feeding team and following training you will be providing infant feeding support independently and undertaking triage of referrals to the team. You will have the opportunity to undertake additional training to support UNICEF standards including UNICEF audit training and attendance at conferences. This is an interesting and varied role ideally suited to someone with a passion for public health and infant feeding. The postholder will undertake appropriate training to meet the needs of the service ensuring competency is achieved, maintained and updated yearly.

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

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