Pam Heselev

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.

Dr Donna Geddes

Dip (Sci) Phd

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

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 Harris

 Heather Harris is a midwife of over 40 year’s experience who has worked in a number of hospitals in Australia and overseas.   

 In 2001 she began work as a midwife with Medecins Sans Frontieres.  Since that first mission, she has completed another seven, in various countries including Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cote d’Ivoire, South Sudan and Somalia.  Many of these countries were in the grip of civil war during the time she was working there.  During this transformative time she was exposed to many obstetric and midwifery challenges and is forever grateful to the local staff from whom she learned so much and who taught her grace under pressure.

She is an artist, songwriter, a published poet and writer having contributed two chapters in Labour of Love (2005), and a chapter in Diabetes and Pregnancy (2000) as well as articles in journals and newsletters.  A peer reviewed paper relating some of her experiences with premature baby care in Africa can be found online in the International Breastfeeding Journal – Feb 2007.  “With a Little Help From My Friends.”  She is a frequent presenter at conferences, usually speaking on lactation related issues.

When Heather is in Australia she is Clinical Midwife Consultant – Lactation at Birralee Maternity Unit – Eastern Health in Melbourne Australia and the besotted grandmother of EdieJean.

Dr. Anita Bearzatto

MBBS(hons), FRACGP, IBCLC

Anita is a General Practitioner and Lactation Consultant from Melbourne who has an interest in breastfeeding medicine and maternal and child health. Anita completed her medical degree at Monash University. She gained her diploma in obstetrics and gynaecology and her fellowship as a General Practitioner. She became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 2007. Anita works as a GP/LC seeing families who have complicated lactation problems. She works in private practice and at the Royal Women’s Hospital.

Rachel Boak

APD, AN; BSc; Hons(Nutrition); MSc(Nut&Diet)

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 Forster

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 Hocking

BA, BN, Grad Dip Mid, M Mid PhD

Jen has worked as a midwife in Melbourne, Australia for 20 years. She trained as a breastfeeding counsellor with the Australian Breastfeeding Association and volunteered as a local group leader and telephone counsellor as well as teaching breastfeeding education classes with other ABA volunteers. Jen’s Masters in Midwifery research was a qualitative study of how women experience postnatal home midwifery care. Her doctoral research is seeking to better understand the work of Lactation Consultants across the breadth of practice in a major metropolitan Australian city. Currently, Jen is a PhD student at the School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Australia. Jen tweets @jenhock13 and blogs at http://jenhock.com

Laura Tolton

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.