Turning the Tide 2018: for Birth and Breastfeeding

Pam Heselev is a maternal & child health nurse/lactation consultant who has worked extensively with babies experiencing feeding difficulties due to positional/tonal problems. She has had her own practice as a lactation consultant and educator. Pam has presented her work nationally and internationally.

Pam has had many years' experience successfully helping babies with positional feeding problems both in private practice and in a large Melbourne teaching hospital. She has conducted a trial of an assessment tool and treatment program for these babies and completed her Master of Health Science (Nursing) at Deakin University in 2007.

Donna is a Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Western Australia working with the Hartmann Human Lactation Research Group. Donna has a broad range of research interests in the physiology of lactation extending from basic to applied research. In particular she utilizes her ultrasound imaging skills to assess the lactating breast (anatomy, milk ejection and blood flow) as well as the infant (suck-swallow-breathe, gastric emptying and body composition). Donna’s work has attracted international attention due to the ability to ‘see’ lactation in action. She has received the Early Career Research award from ISRHML (2008) and the Certificate of Distinction for Innovative Research from the Raine Medical Research Foundation, Perth (2008) in recognition of her contribution to scientific research.

Rachel Reed is an Independent Midwife and a Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia). She began her midwifery career in the UK and has practised midwifery within a range of care models and settings including hospitals, birth centres, community and homebirth. Rachel is committed to the promotion of physiological birth, and of women’s innate ability to birth.

Heather first qualified as a midwife in 1970 and has worked in all areas of midwifery practice over the years. She first qualified as an IBCLC in 1991. She was involved in the successful BFHI accreditation for Mitcham Private Hospital, the RWH and Box Hill hospital. She has been an speaker on lactation topics both nationally and internationally. Heather has served as a midwife with Doctors Without Borders in the Ivory Coast, South Sudan, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Nepal. She currently has her own private practice in lactation consultancy

Anita is a GGP and IBCLC who works in the field of Breastfeeding Medicine and maternal and child health. Anita works with families who have complicated breastfeeding problems and addresses the varied medical issues of the mother and baby in the perinatal period. Anita works in private practice in Melbourne and she also works sessions at the Breastfeeding and Lactation Disorders Clinic at The Royal Women’s Hospital. Finally, recognising an unmet need, Anita provides ongoing lactation education and support to healthcare professionals and the community. Anita is a board member of the Breastfeeding Medicine Network of Australia and New Zealand.

Rachel is and experienced Accredited Practising Dietitian and academic, currently working freelance. She has recently completed her PhD At the University of Melbourne. Her thesis was titled “Promoting healthy diets in infancy - Focusing on the food environment not just the individual”. Rachel is passionate about education and public health nutrition, including collaborative and population prevention approaches in early childhood focusing on equity.

Della has been a midwife since 1989. She joined MCHR in April 1999 as joint project coordinator of the ABFAB breastfeeding trial. Della completed her PhD in March 2005 using data from ABFAB. She was a joint Chief Investigator of the Statewide review of public in-hospital postnatal care (PinC). She is Professor of Midwifery and Maternity Services Research at MCHR, the School of Nursing and Midwifery and the Royal Women’s Hospital and a Chief Investigator on the NHMRC-funded randomised controlled trial of caseload midwifery and the NHMRC-funded randomised trial Diabetes and Antenatal Milk Expressing (DAME).

Jen is a registered nurse and midwife who is course coordinator of and lecturer in the Bachelor of Midwifery program at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne). Jen’s PhD was a focused ethnographic study examining the clinical practice of Lactation Consultants who provide support and care for breastfeeding women in Melbourne, Australia.

Pinky McKay is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and best-selling author of 4 titles including Parenting By Heart, Sleeping Like a Baby and Toddler Tactics (Penguin Random House), Pinky specializes in gentle parenting styles that honour mothers’ natural instincts to respond to their babies. Her books are endorsed by The Australian Breastfeeding Association and La Leche League International and recommended by The Australian Association of Infant Mental Health in their policy statement on Controlled Crying.

A sought after guest and keynote speaker at seminars for Health Professionals and parents, Pinky has spoken across Australia, New Zealand and the United states and has presented a popular Tedx talk, ‘Surrender is Not a Dirty Word’. Her reach extends worldwide through her books, e-programs, blogs and highly engaged facebook pages – Pinky McKay’s blogs, books, Baby Massage DVD, and ePrograms are available on her website www.pinkymckay.com.

Laura Tolton is a lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne. Her research sits at the intersection of gender, power and language, focusing specifically on violence against women, including most recently obstetric violence.