Senior Midwifery Practitioner - Infant Feeding Lead

Job overview

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Job Title: Senior Midwifery Practitioner - Infant Feeding Lead

Contract Type: Permanent

Please be advised that this vacancy may close earlier than stated if we receive a large number of applications.

Main duties of the job

Our Maternity Service at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) are delighted to be recruiting a full time band 7 midwife to our Infant Feeding Team.

Do you have a passion for providing evidence-based feeding support within a multi-disciplinary team? Are you keen to offer appropriate advice and management of feeding issues where interventions may support an effective feeding journey for our families?

Do you have a calm approach while being visible and providing professionally strong role-modelling?

If so, we would love to speak with you to understand how you would be the best fit for this well-regarded service.

UHS offers fantastic training and development giving you the best possible opportunities to achieve the career you want. Development of our staff is central to the delivery of high quality, safe and effective care.

We can offer opportunities to develop within a supportive environment, and our staff survey results reflect our commitment to facilitate your career progression.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

What you will do:

• Lead the planning, implementation, maintenance, and evaluation of agreed standards for infant feeding.
• Provide leadership and collaboration to meet the vision for achieving and then maintaining full UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative BFI accreditation.
• Provide leadership support and direction to the Infant Feeding Service ensuring that the team is able to work effectively supporting our families both in and out of the hospital setting.
• Participate in and support regular audits.
• Support and encourage quality and service improvements led by both evidence and service user feedback.
• Champion the public health benefits of breastfeeding, leading initiatives to increase breastfeeding continuation rates in alignment with BFI standards.
• Provide specialist clinical support and expert advice on infant feeding, working collaboratively with the wider workforce to deliver individualised, evidence-based care and support to families.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive training strategy to ensure all members of the multidisciplinary team receive appropriate foundational education and regular updates in infant feeding practices.
• Ensure personalised support to empower informed feeding choices and promote positive outcomes.
• Contribute to the delivery of high-quality training programmes and workshops for both healthcare professionals and service users, supporting a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
• Lead the implementation of evidence-based practice changes, ensuring care remains individualised and responsive to emerging themes through robust, local governance processes.
• Collaborate with local services and partners to promote and support breastfeeding, contributing to improved public health outcomes across the community.

You will be expected to demonstrate:

• Competency and skills acquisition within the band 7 midwife role
• Being a strong advocate of effective and evidence based feeding practices
• The ability to perform and train staff to maintain an effective frenulotomy service
• Ability to communicate effectively and compassionately
• Ability to work under own initiative and prioritise workload
• Good interpersonal skills
• Enjoying working collaboratively with our families and supporting their decisions.

For an overview of the position, please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification document. This includes a detailed breakdown of the key responsibilities, role expectations, and the qualifications we are looking for.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.