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Job summary

Main area
Maternity
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 3
Contract
Fixed term: 12 months (April 2026 for 12 months)
Hours
Part time - 22.5 hours per week
Job ref
321-SW-7704396-B3-EXT
Employer
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Women's Centre John Radcliffe Hospital
Town
Headington
Salary
£24,465 - £26,598 Pro Rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
16/03/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Infant Feeding Team Support Worker

NHS AfC: Band 3

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research.

 

The Trust comprises of four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

 

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. 

 

Many of our recruitment programmes use Value Based Interviewing to identify those who have the skills we seek, who share our values and who are able to deliver compassionate excellence from the outset. We know that this makes a significant difference to your job satisfaction and above all the outcomes and experience of our patients and their families. For more information about our Values and Value Based Interviewing please visit www.ouh.nhs.uk/about/vision-and-values


 

Job overview

We are looking for a caring, conscientious and motivated person to work as an  Infant Feeding Support Workers based in the Women's’ Centre and on occasions in the community.  

Flexibility with shift patterns is essential as this post includes early and late shift, weekends and bank holidays.  We request that candidates only apply if you can fully commit to the advertised working hours. 

Experience working within maternity not essential but previous experience supporting parents with infant feeding would be beneficial.  In house training will be provided.

 

Successful candidates will be expected to work towards the Care Certificate.  Support and study time will be given in order to achieve this.

 

Main duties of the job

As a member of the Infant Feeding Team within maternity you will support and work closely with registered midwives and nurses to deliver a high standard of care to families in a caring and safe environment.  You will work as part of a wider team in developing and maintaining services provided to parents and contribute to the safe, efficient and smooth running of the clinical area.  You will maintain the dignity and privacy of all parents and respect their right to confidentiality.

Working for our organisation

Here in Oxfordshire, we offer a unique set up of our Maternity Services with around 7500 babies born annually. 

We have 4 stand-alone Midwifery-Led Birth units within the county. These are based at Banbury, Chipping Norton, Wantage and Wallingford and we also offer home births to all areas. There is also an integrated Midwifery-Led birth unit, where around 10% of women and birthing people choose to go in labour.  We work closely with specialist services such as the Fetal and Maternal Medicine Unit, Breech Team, and Maternity Bereavement Teams. Midwives employed within the service have the opportunity to rotate to all our units/departments providing care to both low and high risk women. 

For those working with us, we have a substantial support network for staff, focusing on wellbeing and development. This includes a team of professional Midwifery Advocates, Wellbeing Champions, staff networks and a staff Maternity Psychologist. You will be supported by the Practice Development Team who provide regular study days and updates and support staff clinically. We champion diversity and strive to ensure every member of our team feels included, valued, and has the confidence to speak up and be heard.  

We genuinely believe that by supporting our staff to feel happy and offering support within their work environment, we ensure the best quality of care for the women and birthing people who access our services.   

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

As a member of the Infant Feeding Team within maternity you will support and work closely with registered midwives and nurses to deliver a high standard of care to families in a caring and safe environment.  You will work as part of a wider team in developing and maintaining services provided to parents and contribute to the safe, efficient and smooth running of the clinical area.  You will maintain the dignity and privacy of all parents and respect their right to confidentiality.

 Deliver a daily Early Days Information Session (EDIS) to all women on the postnatal wards in groups and individually where appropriate.  The EDIS ensures that parents have the knowledge and skills to be able to feed their babies once home and prevent postnatal readmission.

Identify parents that need additional support with feeding when providing the EDIS;

 

  • Provide evidence based infant feeding support within the scope of your knowledge with regards to:
  • positioning and attachment
  • hand expressing
  • using a breast pump when appropriate
  • safe formula milk preparation
  • responsive feeding

 

  • Be able to put a feeding plan in place if necessary.
  • Refer to the Infant Feeding midwives for more complex situations.

Work in collaboration with the wider Infant Feeding Team ensuring parents receive appropriate support.

Work in collaboration with the ward and community staff (midwives/nurses/maternity support workers) to maintain standards and support parents with feeding up to the age of 6 weeks.

Attend daily safety huddles as necessary on the postnatal ward to maintain Infant Feeding presence and provide updated information and advice to staff.

Answer telephone calls from staff and parents about feeding issues. 

  • Support staff to put appropriate plans in place with regards to managing excessive weight loss/faltering growth with the support of the Infant Feeding Midwives.
  • Provide infant feeding support over the phone and via online video conferencing portals.

Provide infant feeding support to parents who may be in patients in the main hospital.

Provide infant feeding support to parents whose babies have been admitted to the Children’s ward.

Carry out practical skills reviews on staff as part of staff mandatory study days to maintain standards.

Support the infant feeding midwives with the annual UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative audit and monthly supplementation audit.

Answer buzzers on the postnatal ward to assist the ward staff and handle the parent’s request appropriately.

Inform ward staff if concerned regarding a parent’s or baby’s condition.  Seek support from a registered practitioner when indicated.

Person specification

Education and Experience

Essential criteria
  • 5 GCSE's or equivalent
  • Good command of spoken and written English
Desirable criteria
  • Experience working in maternity/supporting new parents with feeding
  • Experience of working in NHS

Personal Qualities and Attiributes

Essential criteria
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Able to work shift patterns as described
  • Understanding of role and maternity care - good insight
  • Can cope under pressure

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Fair Train work experience quality standard - gold standardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)Embracing Equality Diversity InclusionDisability confident employerStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Prince's Trust - Proud to support the Prince's trust - Youth can do itStep into healthArmed Forces Covenant

Applicant requirements

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.

Application numbers

Please note that this job advertisement will close automatically once the application limit is reached, regardless of whether this occurs before the advertised closing date.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Amber Clark
Job title
Infant Feeding Team Lead Midwife
Email address
[email protected]