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Speakers bio and Program
Abstracts
Meet the speakers (from left to right in the image below)
Professor Maralyn Foureur
Maralyn Foureur is currently Professor of Nursing and Midwifery Research at the University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Local Health District, a joint Clinical Chair. Maralyn is an internationally renowned midwifery academic and clinical researcher in two main areas, Models of Maternity Care Delivery and the role of Birth Unit Architectural Design & Aesthetics and how these impact on childbearing women/families and on maternity care staff. She began her long career in research through becoming a childbirth educator in the 1980s; an experience that exposed her to the critical importance of authentically listening to women to discover how best to meet their support needs. This led to an abiding interest in the neurophysiology of childbirth and provides ongoing insights into what childbirth is ‘meant’ to be.
Cindy Davenport
Cindy Davenport is the Co-Director of Ternity Group - the group behind leading brands Safe Sleep Space, Nourish Baby and Sleep Smart. Cindy is a child and family health nurse, midwife and lactation consultant, and has worked in the early parenting field since 1998. She has a keen interest in the health and wellbeing of families working alongside and supporting a range of organisations, health professionals and the community.
Susan Perrow
Susan is an Australian author who works with story medicine. She writes, collects and documents stories that offer a therapeutic journey for the listener – a positive, imaginative way of addressing challenging behaviours and difficult situations.
Susan has an extensive background in teaching and therapeutic writing. She travels nationally and internationally giving keynotes and running seminars for teachers, parents and therapists. Her work has led to the publication of three resource books - ‘Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour’, ‘Therapeutic Storytelling: 101 Healing Stories for Children’ and ‘An A-Z Collection of Behaviour Tales’. They have all been published by Hawthorn Press (U.K.), the first two now in ten languages. ‘A Spoonful of Stories’, Susan’s e-book series, was launched in 2013. You can read more about her books and work on her website …. www.susanperrow.com.
Professor Mary Nolan
Mary Nolan, Professor of Perinatal Education, University of Worcester, UK
Mary trained as a nurse in the 1970s and then with the UK National Childbirth Trust, and has worked with parent educators across Europe, Australia and New Zealand. She has published extensively in academic and professional journals. As well as writing chapters on sustainable birth practices and teenage pregnancy and chapters for three editions of Myles Textbook for Midwives, she is the author of ‘Antenatal Education: A Dynamic Approach’, ‘Home Birth: The Politics of Difficult Choices’, and most recently, ‘Parent Education for the Critical 1000 Days’. Her research has explored women’s decision-making in early labour, health visitors’ engagement with new fathers, young parents’ sources of information about parenting, and the effectiveness of online antenatal education. Eight years ago, she launched the International Journal of Birth and Parent Education for professionals working in the field of the critical 1000 days. Mary has three daughters and three grandchildren and lives in York.
Tracey Anderson Askew
Tracey Anderson Askew is a mother of four sons who all seem to have survived her parenting. It has been her experiences of birth and parenting which gave rise to her desire to help other families through this important time.
Tracey is a teacher, hypnotherapist and childbirth and parenting educator and is the Director of Transform Parenting. For twenty years her centre has served thousands of families and is dedicated to changing the experiences of women and men during birth and early parenting. She offers education, coaching and therapy and brings in specialists with an expertise in specific areas. She is a passionate supporter of new parents and is in the unique position of following families all the way from birth to the first few years of parenting. She promotes personal development, community, and understanding about children and how they develop as they grow. She has watched countless people make the transition from birth to parenthood and thinks it's the wildest ride of life. Her presentation is on 'thriving as a new parent', and what really moves the needle for new parents.
Pinky McKay
Pinky McKay is one of Australia’s most recognised and respected breastfeeding experts. She’s an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and best-selling author of 4 titles including Parenting By Heart and Sleeping Like a Baby, (Penguin Random House), Pinky specializes in gentle parenting styles that honour mothers’ natural instincts to respond to their babies.
Pinky’s ‘get real’, no-nonsense approach, along with a blend of humour, sharp wit and wisdom, make her an expert source for national publications and major network TV. Her real-world experience stems from being the mother of five and grandmother of four.
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 and instagram pages with over 300,000 followers - Pinky McKay fan page and the Boobie Bikkies page which offers a wealth of support and evidence based information to breastfeeding mothers.
Elly Taylor
Elly Taylor is an internationally recognised perinatal relationship expert, award winning author and founder of Becoming Us. As a relationship counsellor and a new mother at the same time, Elly both personally and professionally experienced the gap in preparation and support for the overnight life changes and new relationship issues that come with early parenthood. Fast forward 20 years and Elly's mission is to support the mental, emotional and relationship wellbeing of expecting and new mothers, fathers and babies. Her ground-breaking book Becoming Us, the Couples Guide to Surviving Parenthood and Growing a Family that Thrives is on the essential or recommended reading lists of numerous leading perinatal organisations. Elly has presented at national and international conferences, served on the advisory panel for several university research projects and is currently on the board of the International Forum for Wellbeing in Pregnancy. Her passion (family aside) is training professionals worldwide to become Parenthood Tour Guides.
Dr Nicole Highet
Nicole has a background in clinical psychology, marketing, campaign development, and advocacy. Following over thirteen years at Beyondblue Nicole founded COPE - the Centre of Perinatal Excellence, in 2013 to provide a dedicated focus on effective and sustainable approaches to best practice in perinatal mental health.
COPE’s work involves maintaining national momentum, ensuring support for best practice through new National Guidelines and investment into innovative, measurable, and sustainable approaches to best practice implementation including but not limited to electronic approaches to psycho-education, e-screening platforms, online training, e-referral and e-health promotion initiatives.
Jonathan Barac
Jonathan has been working in the digital marketing field for over 13 years assisting private and public organisations in establishing and growing digital marketing and social media strategies. Originally from Canberra and now located in Newcastle, Jonathan has a wide range of experience in the digital field and enjoys sharing his knowledge to help small and medium businesses leverage the power of digital in a feasible way.
Kent Woodcock
As a creative director, Kent's work is all about bringing new ideas to life! Kent is passionate about helpng and has raised in excess of $50 million for non-profit and national charities over many years.
Carolyn Hastie
Carolyn Hastie is an internationally accomplished midwife, author and academic. Her work is informed by her deep understanding of what it takes to be an educated, authentic, empathetic and intuitive midwife. Carolyn’s curiosity and fascination with what is important to birthing women and their families has taken her around the world and informed her theoretical and practical approach to midwifery education, research and maternity care. When she is not trying to change the world, she is walking with her dog or exploring the wilderness
Associate Professor Elisabeth Murphy
Associate Professor Elisabeth Murphy is the Senior Clinical Advisor, Child and Family Health, NSW Ministry of Health. She has overseen the implementation of a number of early intervention programs including NSW-wide screening programs for hearing (SWISH – Statewide Infant Screening – Hearing) and vision (StEPS); the Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Health Strategy and the promotion of health checks for improved child development and health in the NSW Personal Health Record. Dr Murphy is also the Network Director for Child Youth and Family Health in NSLHD. She is a past recipient of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Medal and has recently been recognised as one of the top 50 Public Sector Women – NSW.
Giverny Lewis
Giverny Lewis is a sex therapist and relationships counsellor based in Wahroonga, Sydney. With her background in sociology and gender studies, combined with a Masters in Health Science (Sexual Health), Giverny brings a range of theoretical and therapeutic models to her practice, dealing with all sexual and relationship concerns. She has worked for key state and national sexual health and HIV organisations, delivered sex education in schools, and developed educational materials for youth workers, mental health workers, teachers and the aged care sector. She has been published in Cosmopolitan, Women's Health and GQ, and continues to appear as an expert guest on Triple J's 'The Hook Up' program.
