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Education

Lactation for Health Professionals Course 2023

Presented by Melinda Cooper and associates, Lactation for Health Professionals returns for 2023. Facilitated by the leading experts in the field of lactation the course includes the latest research and emerging information available.

This course is ideal for those health professionals wishing to upskill or refresh their learning in caring for peripartum women and their babies.

Participants will leave with the knowledge and confidence to provide appropriate advice, treatment and/or referral for inflammatory conditions of the lactating breast.

COURSE STRUCTURE & FORMAT

20hrs pre-reading and online recorded lectures
1 day practical in-person intensive 7.30am - 5.00pm
2 hour live online post course case study workshop and Q&A

Our hybrid format offers flexibility around work/life schedules with our online self-paced component (received 5 weeks prior to your chosen date), whilst also producing optimal learning outcomes during our 1 day intensive. You will integrate and activate learnings by applying them and receiving feedback in real-time, with real bodies, in small group settings.

Practical sessions include:

Therapeutic ultrasound
Low level laser therapy
Fit 2 Feed exercise classes
Manual therapy, taping, lymphatic massage and much more


Learning outcomes include but are not limited to:

Understand the anatomy and physiology of the lactating breast
Understand, and learn how to educate, your patients on the impact that lactation for women & breastfeeding for babies have on health outcomes across generations
Develop clinical reasoning tools for the assessment and management of lactation disorders
Develop a repertoire of therapeutic modalities that are applicable to the lactating breast
Develop a network of multidisciplinary support with colleagues, lactation consultants and other health practitioners involved in pregnancy, peri-partum care, lactation and breastfeeding.

INVESTMENT*

Early bird rate | $1099
Full tuition | $1299

Early bird rate dates end:
WA | 31 Jan 2023
QLD | 28 May 2023
VIC | 5 Aug 2023

*Payment plans available
Nationally accredited course worth 25 CPD points

Level 1 practical dates and the links for registration:

WA | Sunday 2 April | King Edward Hospital

QLD | Sunday 30 July | Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital

VIC | Sunday 8 October | Venue TBC, Melbourne
2 hour live online post case study for all 2023 courses will be held Wednesday October 25th 2023 7-9pm

Energy of face to face was amazing! Mindi’s energy and compassion and joy for life and learning is infectious and inspiring and so genuine! Content and delivery was amazing. One of the best courses I have had the privilege to participate in. Thank you The small group size for L4HP made me feel like my learning outcomes were important to the presenters. All the presenters were knowledgeable and generous with their approach. Thank you. This is definitely where I want to focus my career moving forward.

MEET THE TEAM

melinda cooper

Lead Facilitator | Melinda Cooper | Physio

Mindy (aka Melinda) Cooper has practiced Continence, Pelvic Floor and Women’s Health physiotherapy for the better part of 40 years and remains no less passionate about its ideals than when she started. She has regularly lectured and tutored in Women’s Health Programs in the Department of Physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne where she was involved in researching pelvic floor muscle function in parous women. She has been a Clinical Consultant with an Adjunct Appointment to the School of Population Health at Monash University where she was the chief investigator studying validity of outcome measures used in assessing inflammatory conditions of the lactating breast. Mindy also serves as a Clinical Consultant to physiotherapy Masters students at Curtin University. She is delighted to be Emma Heron’s clinical supervisor towards her PhD, an RCT on the effect of TUS in ICLBs. Mindy is the developer and primary presenter of the nationally accredited courses ‘Lactation for Health Professionals’. Mindy invests much of her time in her relationships with her friends, colleagues and family including at last count, her 6 grandchildren.


Through Life Physiotherapy

Lecturer | Helen Lowe | Director Through Life Physiotherapy

Helen has enjoyed a diverse Physiotherapy career in rural Victoria for the past 25 years. In 2006 she felt called to start a private practice to provide her community with specialist areas of physiotherapy that didn’t otherwise exist locally. Through Life Physiotherapy has grown to a team of fifteen who together provide the Gippsland region with; Neurological Rehabilitation, Vestibular Rehabilitation, Paediatric Physiotherapy, Pelvic Health Physiotherapy for Women and Men, Mastitis Treatment, Pregnancy and Postnatal exercise, Aquatic Physiotherapy, Invisible Illness management, Clinical Pilates, Musculoskeletal treatment and rehabilitation, Pilates Classes and Respiratory Physiotherapy.

After attending a lecture by Melinda Cooper in 2008 and then the Lactation for Health Professionals course in 2010 Helen has treated many lactating mothers in Gippsland and joined the teaching team for L4HP in 2014. Helen participated in the early years of the research team with Dr Adelle McArdle and Melinda Cooper, presenting at the 2015 APA National Conference and publishing with Melinda and Adelle in 2020.


Lecturer | Kym Veale | Director Womankind Physiotherapy

Kym is the Owner and Director of Womankind Physiotherapy, based in the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and is passionate about raising awareness of women’s health conditions and optimising outcomes for women throughout their lifespan.

Kym completed her post-graduate certificates in Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy and Exercise for Women through the University of Melbourne in 2012 and 2014 respectively. Her interest in lactation was fostered under the tutelage of Melinda Cooper working alongside her for several years at Marshall Street Practice and later at Inform Physiotherapy.

Kym has taught at both LaTrobe University and Melbourne University teaching undergraduate and masters level students in Gender Specific Studies and Lactation. She has been teaching on the Lactation for Health Professionals course since 2012 and is thrilled to be working with this team of inspiring women.


Lecturer | Emma Heron

Emma is currently completing her PhD on the assessment and treatment of inflammatory conditions of the lactating breast (ICLB). Together with her supervisors, Dr Leanda McKenna, Dr Adelle McArdle and Professor Donna Geddes, her PhD focusses on validating outcome measures for ICLB, and conducting a large randomised clinical trial assessing the effectiveness of therapeutic ultrasound treatment for ICLB. In addition to her PhD, Emma tutors and teaches into postgraduate and undergraduate physiotherapy courses at the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University in women’s, men’s, and pelvic health. Emma works clinically in private practice, alongside Hillary at Inform Physiotherapy.


Convenor and Lecturer | Hillary Schwantzer

Hillary is the owner and director of Inform Physiotherapy. She convenes, lectures and tutors on the Lactation for Health Professionals Course. Hillary has over 20 years of private practice clinical physiotherapy experience. Since completing her postgraduate certificate in Exercise for Women in 2010 and Continence & Pelvic Floor in 2012, from The University of Melbourne, Hillary has enhanced her expertise in the area of women’s health through clinical practice and continued professional development. Hillary has been treating women with lactation issues since 2016 when she completed the Level 1 Lactation for Health Professionals course with Melinda and level 2 the following year.

Professor Donna Geddes

Donna is the director of the The Human Lactation Research Group UWA with a background in medical imaging. She has integrated this modality into many of the group’s studies and her findings have attracted much international attention. She is a member of the Nutrition Society of Australia and Secretary for the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation.

Leanda McKenna

Leanda McKenna is a physiotherapist and academic who gained her PhD in 2012. Her research has focused mainly on shoulder pain and pregnancy related issues. Her research in relation to pregnancy related issues has examined the assessment and treatment choices that physiotherapists use when treating Mastitis and predictors to respond to treatment in women who have pregnancy related pelvic pain.

Dr. Adelle McArdle

Dr. McArdle's research interests are in women's health research with a particular focus on maternal and child health during the perinatal stages and medical education. Since the completion of her PhD in 2009, Dr McArdle’s research is aimed at improving assessment, treatment and patient and clinician education around the treatment of inflammatory conditions of the lactating breast (mastitis) and to investigate and understand the relevant enablers and barriers to successful breastfeeding for Australian women.