Job Description

Do you aspire to deliver the Best Possible Maternity Care every time? That is the approach to Maternity Services at Northampton General Hospital. We have been a fully accredited Baby Friendly Hospital since 2016.

Our Maternity services include:

A modern 3 bed Birth Centre with birthing pools, assessment room and 8 postnatal beds.



6 bedded Transitional Care Ward to minimise separation of mothers and babies.



17 bedded ward for inpatient antenatal and postnatal mothers and babies .



9 bed consultant-led Labour Ward with a birthing pool.



2 dedicated Obstetric theatres with recovery



13 bed Maternity Higher Observation Ward.



A dedicated triage, based on labour ward.



A Bereavement Suite with garden.



A Maternity Day Unit, an Outpatient Clinic and Midwifery-led Sonography services



Our Community Midwifery Services are Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Award Winners 2021 for Excellence in Care During a Global Pandemic



We also won the Race Matters RCM Award 2021



We are a Pathway to Excellence Hospital, and we have active shared decision-making councils within Maternity.

Projects include:

o Wellbeing initiatives for staff



o Recognising our colleagues through the Maternity Stars, Rose award and Daisy award schemes.



With a current delivery rate of 4,300 births and ambitious plans across the Local Maternity System for transforming maternity services to be aligned with the Better Births recommendations, now is an exciting time to join the team and play your part in its current period of transformation.



A rare and exciting opportunity has arisen for a skilled, self-motivated individual to work as a member of the maternity team as an Infant Feeding Advisor.



Organisational and Management Responsibilities



Effectively manage own time to ensure a balance between audit, clinical and administrative duties



Promote and maintain a departmental culture which promotes an open and honest approach to professional decision making and problem solving



Promote and maintain organisational and professional standards



Actively participate in infant feeding meetings within the maternity services



Demonstrate and promote excellent interpersonal skills, written, verbal and nonverbal communication styles



Influence and nurture positive attitudes and behaviours within the teams and wider multidisciplinary team



Clinical Role



Undertake relevant clinical practices in accordance with the Scope of Professional Practice



Act as a source of expert clinical and professional advice on infant feeding



Undertake Clinical Audit within area of speciality



Working with the Infant Feeding Lead, implement initiatives to improve the breastfeeding initiation and maintenance rates by supporting midwives, assistant practitioners and maternity support workers in the clinical area



Provide support and act as a resource to staff who are assisting new mothers on the postnatal wards with infant feeding ensuring compliance with the DoH and Baby Friendly Initiative



Participate in the development of relevant care pathways and guidelines within the maternity service



Take all possible action to minimise clinical risk to women and their babies, utilising all available resources



Please submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close any adverts before the closing date once we have received sufficient applications



Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust is one of the largest employers in the area and we are on an exciting journey. All our divisions are committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have also entered a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire.



Our Excellence Values



Compassion



Accountability



Respect



Integrity



Courage



We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone's full potential.



The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups. We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative.



We recognise the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community make to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Silver Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme.



We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.



We are looking for someone with drive and a passion for infant feeding to work within the small, friendly team. As the Infant Feeding Advisor, you will promote Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) care standards by teaching, supporting and mentoring staff to give the best possible care to babies and their parents. You will support the work of the Infant Feeding Lead to ensure that the BFI standards continue to be implemented across the service, preparing for any future accreditation visits and for our ambitions of achieving BFI Gold accreditation.



We need someone who is motivated, flexible, positive about breastfeeding and who is keen to further develop their knowledge and skills in infant feeding and the BFI process. In time you will be able to work both independently and as part of the team using your excellent clinical, interpersonal and organisational skills to work with the infant feeding lead to:



Support new staff and midwifery students to develop their clinical skills in infant feeding using an evidence-based approach in line with BFI care standards



Run training sessions for a range of maternity staff and to the multi-disciplinary team



Carry out practical skills reviews in infant feeding



Work with staff individually and in groups to build their skills to provide a high level of care in infant feeding



Participate in the provision of breastfeeding workshops for expectant parents



Support staff to develop care plans with complex clinical cases



Carry out regular audits to monitor our compliance with BFI standards of care and report the findings



Use these audit results and current evidence to help shape training for staff and resources for parents



Assist in the writing and implementation of guidelines and initiatives relevant to infant feeding



Support parents in the infant feeding clinic with more complex situations



Deputise in meetings at local and regional level as required