Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a  Maternity Support Worker to join the Infant Feeding Team within maternity services at Wythenshawe.

We have a 15 hour post available.

At Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), our Maternity Support Workers take great pride in the essential work we do. That’s because we’re not just helping patients, we’re going the extra mile for them – day in, day out. But more than that, our team’s commitment to work with empathy, consideration and dignity means that we’re among the best – and most compassionate – in our field.

On joining MFT, you’ll be supported to develop your knowledge and skills through our Support Worker Development Programme for Maternity Support Workers that includes completion of the Care Certificate for candidates who have not completed this previously. The great news is, the completion of the Support Worker Development Programme will give you the opportunity to progress into a Band 3 Nursing Assistant/Maternity Support Worker (delete as appropriate) role.

If you’re a more experienced Maternity Support Worker seeking a new opportunity, you’ll undertake a skills analysis when you start to identify any gaps in your clinical skills knowledge needed for your role. You’ll then be supported to access relevant modules from the clinical skills programme to support your progression to a Band 3 post on completion.

Main duties of the job

The Maternity Support Worker will;

• Provide advice to parents in a group setting or individually in relation to both the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding
• Provide breastfeeding support in clinical areas
• Participate in antenatal education related to infant feeding
• Provide education and support to families who choose to artificially feed in line with recommendations
• Support the antenatal colostrum harvesting programme both by preparing equipment and providing information to women
• Assist with contacting parents who have been referred for a tongue tie assessment and book clinic appointments
• Provide feeding support for mothers/families during the tongue tie clinic
• Provide telephone breastfeeding support for women following discharge from hospital
• Assist in the organisation of special events to promote breastfeeding awareness e.g. National Breastfeeding Awareness week
• Work within defined sphere of responsibility, referring appropriately in cases where more senior input is required
• Support the Infant Feeding team with their ongoing audit commitment
• Support the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative team in achieving and maintaining stage 3 accreditation.
• Maintain skills to support the maternity unit as necessary

Candidates should expect to work shifts to cover Monday - Saturday. 

Working for our organisation

MFT is one of the largest NHS Trusts in England with a turnover of £2.8bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We’re creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.

Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 30,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you’ll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.

We’ve also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.

We’re proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What’s more, we’re excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.

 At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.