Infant Feeding Support Worker

Medway Nhs Foundation Trust; Gillingham; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Part time

Job summary

Medway NHS Foundation Trust in Kent is seeking an Infant Feeding Support Worker to join the Women, Children and Young People division. The role focuses on delivering family-centred breastfeeding support from pregnancy through six weeks postnatally, aligned with UNICEF BFI standards.

This fixed-term, part-time position (7 months) involves collaboration with the Infant Feeding team to provide antenatal education, clinic support, and community visits, with the aim of improving feeding outcomes for

Qualifications

• UNICEF BFI Management Course or Peer Counsellor training required.
• Experience with family-centred support in infant feeding welcomed.

Responsibilities

• Provide feeding support to families in antenatal and postnatal periods.
• Deliver high-quality, family-centred support across Medway and Swale.
• Work with the Infant Feeding team to uphold UNICEF BFI standards.
• Offer breastfeeding guidance across hospital, community, and groups.
• Assist with data collection for audit and service improvement.
• Provide face-to-face and telephone feeding support up to 6 weeks post birth.

Skills

Communication skills

Time management

Prioritization

MDT collaboration

Advocacy for families

Education

UNICEF BFI Management Course/Peer Counsellor

Job description

Job summary

Infant Feeding Support Worker

Division: Women, Children and Young People

Care Group: Women's Care

Band: 4

Salary: £28,392 - £31,157 per annum pro rata

Interview Date: expected to be held the week commencing 02 November 2026

We are recruiting for an Infant Feeding Support Worker who shares our ambition and vision to deliver the Best of Care by the Best People and has the drive to take us forward, by ensuring that the Trust continues to be the first choice for patients and our staff.

The post holder will work as an integral part of our Infant Feeding team to deliver high quality, family-centred support to the population of Medway and Swale.

The Infant feeding team are externally funded by Medway Council as part of their Start for Life funding. The aim of our team is to support all families who have care at Medway hospital from pregnancy until 6 weeks postnatally. We offer support through antenatal education, specialist clinics, inpatient support, home visits and social group facilitation.

As we are a Level 3 BFI Accredited Trust, the post-holder will work in collaboration with the Infant Feeding Specialist Midwife to uphold the UNICEF BFI standards. They will deliver evidence based infant feeding support, and have meaningful feeding conversations in both the antenatal and postnatal period. They will be willing to undertake training courses to enhance their existing knowledge.

Our values are Bold, Every Person Counts, Sharing and Open and Together. It is important that you understand and to refer to our values when completing your application and always reflect our values throughout your employment with the Trust.

We are committed to endorsing diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion; our policies / procedures ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work as an integral part of our Infant Feeding team to deliver high quality, family-centred support to the population of Medway and Swale.

The Infant feeding team are externally funded by Medway Council as part of their Start for Life funding. The aim of our team is to support all families who have care at Medway hospital from pregnancy until 6 weeks postnatally. We offer support through antenatal education, specialist clinics, inpatient support, home visits and social group facilitation.

As we are a Level 3 BFI Accredited Trust, the post-holder will work in collaboration with the Infant Feeding Specialist Midwife to uphold the UNICEF BFI standards. They will deliver evidence based infant feeding support, and have meaningful feeding conversations in both the antenatal and postnatal period. They will be willing to undertake training courses to enhance their existing knowledge.

Our values are Bold, Every Person Counts, Sharing and Open and Together. It is important that you understand and to refer to our values when completing your application and always reflect our values throughout your employment with the Trust.

We are committed to endorsing diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion; our policies / procedures ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process.

Details

• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 4
• Contract: Fixed term
• Duration: 7 months
• Working pattern: Part-time, Flexible working
• Reference number: 275-2610-WCYP-InfantSW

Key Responsibilities

• To ensure all women receive appropriate support and advice with their chosen method of feeding
• To support mothers to develop their relationship with their babies in the antenatal and postnatal period, to facilitate brain development and attachment
• To work in collaboration with the Infant Feeding Lead and Support Midwife and assist them to give family centred support, and referral if appropriate
• To help the Infant Feeding lead maintain the UNICEF standards throughout the trust
• Offer specialist support and guidance to facilitate mothers to initiate and sustain breastfeeding - across a multitude of settings e.g. community, hospital, group settings and over the phone
• Support mothers with complex breastfeeding needs e.g. multiple births, babies on NICU, pre-term babies.
• Identify when feeding is not going well and refer to multidisciplinary services appropriately - e.g. specialist feeding clinic, health visiting, neonatal doctors
• To support and/or facilitate breastfeeding support groups and provide antenatal and postnatal education
• Working with antenatal women and their families to promote the service and the benefits of breastfeeding
• Help collect data, statistics and feedback to use for audit and to improve the service
• To provide face to face and telephone feeding support to families, up to 6 weeks post birth, both in the hospital setting and community setting.

Essential Qualifications

• UNICEF BFI Management Course/Peer Counsellor course or other equivalent higher breastfeeding training

Essential Knowledge and Understanding

• Good level of written and spoken English
• Awareness and/or experience of the Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative
• Knowledge of local, national and global strategies relevant to breastfeeding and infant feeding
• Understanding of peer support programmes, how they work and why they work
• Good understanding of breast anatomy, mechanism of breastfeeding, factors required to breastfeed and able to identify barriers to achieve this.
• Good understanding of how to support parents to safely and responsively formula feed.

Essential Skills

• Excellent communication skills - verbal and documentation
• Good time management skills
• Able to prioritize and appropriately triage competing demands
• Work well within the MDT and have a good understanding of limitations
• Be a confident advocate for families

Employer details

Employer name: Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Address: Medway Maritime Hospital, Windmill Road, Gillingham, ME7 5NY

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship are welcome.