Infant Feeding Lactation Specialist

Job overview

An exciting opportunity for an experienced practitioner in Infant feeding with lactation experience, is being offered in Barking and Dagenham to support Breast Feeding.

The Specialist Infant Feeding Practitioner (SIFP) will be providing leadership in infant feeding and specialist evidence-based support to families with more complex needs. They will lead delivery of the infant feeding remit and will be responsible for a service providing high quality infant feeding support to parents and carers, and regular training and advice to professionals.

In line with the Barking and Dagenham “Best Chance” Strategy, and the Start for Life and Family Hubs’ model, this post is crucial to establishing a supportive culture towards infant feeding; this support enables parents/carers in Barking and Dagenham to make an informed choice about feeding their baby in a way that optimises nutrition and develops a close, and loving parent-child relationship.   The SIFP post holder must provide safe, competent and evidence-based care whilst demonstrating specialised knowledge and clinical expertise in breastfeeding and human lactation.  Ideally, the post-holder is a qualified and registered Health Visitor and Lactation Consultant with clinical credibility and influence to speak as an advocate for Baby Friendly

It is expected that the successful applicant does not  hold a certificate from the IBLC , they will undertake the training within the 6 months of starting the role

Main duties of the job

• Be responsible for developing and delivering family-centred patient care by providing coordination and management of care for parents; this would involve assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating lactation plans for the breastfeeding parent.
• Provide specialist one to one support to families who have complex breastfeeding or post-partum issues
• Work with the Breastfeeding Peer Support service to provide clinical supervision to volunteers and staff,
• Develop and deliver breastfeeding training for the wider workforce, in accordance with UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI)
• Work with the Local Authority Public Health team, Infant Feeding operational leads and other infant feeding partners to contribute to an Infant Feeding Strategy for the borough.

• Perform consultations, oversee rental of lactation equipment and supplies, support  telephone triage, and deliver prenatal education as appropriate   Educate parents and carers on the benefits of breastfeeding for mother and infant;

• Line management responsibility for the Infant Feeding & Beyond Health Practitioner role, providing clinical oversight and development to the post-holders
• Attend and co-chair the Infant Feeding Operational Leads’ group and Infant Feeding Strategy group meetings.
• Lead by example and display a leadership style that empowers staff through development.
• Lead on designated infant feeding projects to ensure effective communication and standardisation of practice

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Taking the leadership with infant feeding and supporting infants, children and their families on early nutrition

Direct line management of Infant feeding health practitioner

Providing evidenced based practice and training   to health team who are working with family

Work in partnership  with other agencies, including statutory and voluntary groups, making referrals and consulting (as necessary) with the consent of clients and within the policies of the Trust.

• Contribute to any ongoing BFI standards’ audits, clinical audits and other governance programmes in relation to the post holder’s own activity Develop and monitor the use of patient experience within the service and use these to inform service transformation.

Use of AI Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

• ·