Historically, midwives have been the strong advocates for pregnant women much needed in the patriarchal field of medicine. Today, with a higher proportion of female obstetricians, the culture of obstetric care has shifted to a more holistic view of the pregnant woman. Join us for a panel discussion bringing together a midwife, obstetrician and GP to discuss the historical context, present issues and intricacies of the complex relationship between doctors, midwives and their patients.
Speakers:
Ms Jennifer Hocking
Jen Hocking has been a registered and practising midwife in the public maternity system since 1997. She is a lecturer in the Bachelor of Midwifery program at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne and is completing a PhD through Western Sydney University which examines the professional breastfeeding support practice of Lactation Consultants. Jen is the chair of the Victorian branch of the Australian College of Midwives. She is also a member of the core group of the Australian World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative which in 2018 evaluated the policy and practice of breastfeeding in Australia. Jen is active on Twitter @jenhock13 and blogs at: https://jenhock.com
Dr Anthea Lindquist
Dr Lindquist is a consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist based at the Mercy Hospital for Women in Melbourne. Besides working as a clinician, she performs research in perinatal epidemiology, investigating links between important clinical factors and pregnancy outcomes, in the hope that these studies might point the way toward improvements in clinical care. In 2010, Anthea took up a Rhodes’ Scholarship at Oxford University in the United Kingdom where she undertook PhD studies in Public Health. Her studies examined the relationship between socioeconomic levels and poor maternal outcomes in pregnancy, clearly establishing that better pregnancy outcomes are strongly associated with being more affluent. In that work, she explored some of the reasons for the social gradient in maternal health outcomes in the National Health Service (NHS – United Kingdom health service).
Dr Pamela Douglas
Dr Pamela Douglas is a GP and Medical Director of Possums Education, a small charitable organisation which aims to educate health professionals in evidence-based care of parents with babies, in the domains of breastfeeding/feeds, unsettled infant behaviour, and maternal mood. Possums Education also sells online programs for parents. Pam is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Maternity, Newborn and Families Research Centre MHIQ, Griffith University, and a Senior Lecturer with the Discipline of General Practice, The University of Queensland. Because of a shared focus on post-birth care, Pam has worked collaboratively with midwives, child health nurses, and lactation consultants over many years.