• Ongoing Position
• Parkville Location 
• 12 hours per week (3 days/fortnight - rotating roster)

The Royal Women’s Hospital is Australia’s first and largest specialist hospital dedicated to improving the health and well being of newborns and women of all ages. To join the Women’s is to be instrumental in forging progress towards health equity for women from ground-breaking research through to the bedside delivery of multi-disciplinary clinical care.

Creating exceptional experiences is at the heart of everything we do for our patients, their families, and our people across our specialised services within maternity, neonatal and women’s health.

The Breastfeeding Service provides a range of lactation services across the entire hospital, including:

• Clinical care and support regarding infant feeding to women and their babies who have birthed at the Women’s or whose infant was cared for in the Women’s Special Care Nursery.
• Care for families across the hospital including antenatal, postnatal wards, NICU, emergency department and support Royal Melbourne Hospital with support of breastfeeding women where appropriate
• Provide education to a range of health professionals on lactation issues
• Involvement in research projects pertaining to breastfeeding
• Support the maintenance of Baby Friendly Health initiative (BFHI)accreditation for the RWH
• Secondary consultations with health professionals, both within and outside the hospital.

Your contribution

The midwife/nurse lactation consultant is a member of the Breastfeeding Service team of the Royal Women’s which includes Sandringham campus, providing expert professional support and clinical services on lactation, breastfeeding and infant feeding issues.

The midwife/nurse lactation consultant will advocate for and advance the status of the Women’s as a Baby Friendly Hospital according to Australian BFHI guidelines

Your duties will include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Provide clinical care and breastfeeding management strategies for women and infants attending the Breastfeeding Service, the maternity wards, neonatal services
• Liaise with RWH midwives and neonatal nurses who are assisting women with breastfeeding
• Provide clinical care that is guided by best practice principles, RWH policies and CPG’s, and BFHI guidelines
• Uphold RWH policies and standards in relation to client privacy and confidentiality
• Actively participate in case discussions and patient review
• Consult with the Breastfeeding Service medical officer, Clinical Midwife Consultant and other health professionals as required
• Demonstrate a sound knowledge and understanding of equipment used to support the establishment and maintenance of breastfeeding, and when use is deemed necessary.
• Refer clients to other health professionals and services as necessary
• Telephone triage and make appointments for women attending the Breastfeeding Service
• Be credentialed or training towards infant tongue-tie assessment and release
• Demonstrate flexibility in teamwork and supporting team mates across all allocated areas each day.

About you

To be successful within this role you will need to have:

ESSENTIAL

• Registered midwife and/or nurse with AHPRA
• Demonstrated understanding of contemporary women’s health issues
• Demonstrated understanding and practice of cultural competency
• Current IBCLC qualification
• Participation or willingness to participate in quality assurance programs and research activities

DESIRABLE

• Experience in a lactation service in a tertiary hospital
• Experience in working with culturally/socially diverse health care settings
• Experience in working with community providers
• Experience in working in research projects

Our offering

When you join the Women’s you unite with talented people who share your purpose and unwavering determination to advance health outcomes for all women. You will find a workplace that is collaborative, progressive and passionate about learning and working together in multi-disciplinary teams to ensure you find the exceptional in your everyday.

Our staff benefits program includes salary packaging, on-site car parking and childcare (subject to availability), alongside a range of discounted financial, lifestyle and well being benefits provided by our staff benefit partners. To learn more, please visit: www.thewomens.org.au/careers/why-work-at-the-womens/staff-benefits/

We are proudly Breastfeeding Association accredited. The Women’s is committed to gender equity principles and our people have an awareness of and sensitive approach to violence against women/family violence matters.

The Women’s is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and social inclusion. We welcome applications from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, including those from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders, people with lived experience of disability and people who identify as LGBTI.

It is a policy of the Women's to provide reasonable adjustments for persons with a disability. If you need assistance or adjustments to fully participate in the application or interview process, please contact the hiring manager listed under 'Contact Person'

Ready to make the move?

For more information about the position, please see the Position Description attached and apply online by selecting “apply now” below.

All appointments to the Women’s are subject to a satisfactory clearance of Working with Children Check and Police Check.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

Please be aware that in line with the Health Minister's Covid-19 Mandatory Vaccination Order, all workers at the Women's regardless of role, will be required to be fully vaccinated (3 doses) for COVID-19 or hold an acceptable medical exemption.

Influenza Vaccination Requirement

In line with the Health Services Amendment (Mandatory Vaccination of Healthcare Workers) Act 2020, some health care workers are now required to have their flu vaccination to work in health care. Evidence of vaccination is required.

As this role fits into category A or B of the departments risk ratings, applicants will be required to have been vaccinated against influenza. Evidence of vaccination is required.

All applicants will be required to provide acceptable evidence of their vaccination status.

If you would like to receive this information/publication in an accessible format (such as large print or audio) please call our HR Enquiries line on: 03 8345 2080, or email [email protected].