Deputy Infant Feeding Midwife in Preston

Are you passionate and committed about making a difference to women, people and families using maternity services? This is an exciting opportunity for a skilled, self-motivated, experienced band 6 midwife to work as a member of the maternity team as a Deputy Infant Feeding Midwife.

We are looking for someone with drive and a passion for infant feeding to work within the small, friendly team. As the Deputy Infant Feeding Midwife, 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 Specialist Midwife for Infant Feeding 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 Level 3 and Gold accreditation.

Main duties of the job include:

• Provide expert assessment, care planning, and clinical support to mothers/parents and babies with infant feeding needs (including complex feeding challenges, e.g., preterm, twins, tongue-tie concerns, weight loss and jaundice).
• Support the delivery of proactive support across antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal pathways (community, ward, clinic and telephone follow-up).
• Promote, protect and support breastfeeding and responsive feeding; ensure safe formula feeding guidance and informed choice.
• Undertake specialist feeding assessments and documentation in the electronic record; escalate concerns and contribute to multidisciplinary plans.
• Advocate for compassionate care, personalised care planning, and continuity principles.
• Champion the UNICEF BFI standards; contributing to assessments, revalidation and action plans.
• Participate in audits (e.g., feeding outcomes, early initiation rates, skin-to-skin, supplementation indications).
• Support the development of clinical guidelines and patient information aligned to NICE, WHO, Regional and national professional standards.
• Contribute to risk management, incident review and learning; support CNST/Safety standards compliance.
• Adhere to infection prevention, documentation, medicines management (where applicable), incident reporting and duty of candour.
• Support the planning and delivery of training and updates for midwives, maternity support workers (MSWs), students and neonatal staff (e.g., positioning and attachment, responsive feeding, expressing, preterm feeding, safe preparation of formula, communication skills).
• Contribute to parent education (antenatal classes, workshops, digital resources).
• Work collaboratively with neonatal, paediatrics, health visiting, perinatal mental health, and community partners.
• Promote inclusive practice for diverse families, including fathers/partners, LGBTQ+ parents, young parents, and families with additional needs.
• Support initiatives to reduce inequalities in infant feeding outcomes.
• Provide clear communication when working with members of the MDT and women/families.
• Document assessments and plans accurately in Trust systems.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary meetings and handovers.
• Promote safe sleep messages and risk mitigation (e.g. for postnatal recovery, late preterm infants, maternal medication).
• Frequent clinical activity involving observation of feeding, moving handling in positioning, and prolonged periods of standing.
• Emotional resilience to support families experiencing feeding challenges, neonatal admission, or perinatal mental health concerns.

Qualifications & Education:

• Essential criteria: Registered Midwife (NMC). Evidence of post-registration study/CPD relevant to infant feeding. Teaching skills (e.g., practice assessor, mentorship, or equivalent experience).
• Desirable criteria: UNICEF BFI training to “Train the Trainer” level or equivalent. Certified Lactation Consultant IBCLC certification or commitment to working towards it. Qualified in frenulotomy (tongue-tie division) or willingness to undertake training.

Knowledge & Experience:

• Essential criteria: Experience of providing women centred care. Experience of working in a variety of maternity settings/environments. Demonstrated competence in supporting breastfeeding and safe formula feeding. Strong knowledge of infant feeding physiology, lactation management, positioning/attachment, expressing, milk supply concerns, feeding cues. Confident with sharing guidance on safe formula feeding and responsive bottle-feeding guidance. Understanding BFI standards, NICE guidance, and national policies.
• Desirable criteria: Experience in BFI accreditation/reaccreditation processes. Experience of presentation and education skills. Audit/service evaluation participation with evidence of change implementation. Experience delivering staff training and/or competency assessments.