An Infant Feeding Coordinator (IFC) at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust has secured a position with the National Infant Feeding Network.
Kathryn Ashton, who has worked at the Trust for 41 years, was approached to apply for the role of Chair of the North West branch of the Network and, earlier this year, it was announced that she had been successful in her application.
Kathryn, who has led WWL Maternity Services through full Unicef Baby Friendly accreditation twice, said: “I valued the support of the network particularly when I first came into post as an IFC and felt I was suitably placed to offer the same support to my Infant Feeding Colleagues in the North West.
“I have raised the profile of the Unicef UK Baby Friendly accreditation within the organisation which has been carried out jointly with Bridgewater Health Visiting Service to give me a good insight into delivery of Baby Friendly care in community, alongside my extensive experience in maternity care.
“I am looking forward to sharing our good practice at WWL, particularly in relation to Neonatal standards and accreditation, as we are one of only six units in the country to have UNICEF Baby Friendly Neonatal accreditation.”
The National Infant Feeding Network is a network of 800 infant feeding specialists and academics responsible for the support and education of 75,000 health professionals and 5,000 students across England and Northern Ireland, who in turn are responsible for caring for over 800,000 babies, mothers and their families every year.
Supported by Unicef UK, the network shares and promotes evidence-based practice around infant feeding and very early childhood development to deliver optimum health and wellbeing outcomes for mothers, babies and their families.
