PADA Seminar – Ōtepoti | Dunedin – 24 Huitanguru February 2021

This week, our General Manager Treena Cooper flew down to Ōtepoti Dunedin for the first of 2021’s PADA Seminars.

These seminars provide professional development for those supporting families affected by mental illness related to pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood. Thank you to the presenters who donated their time to share valuable information on their specialty topic.

Among the people who attended were: Midwives, Social Workers, Nurses, Family Community Support Workers, Massage Therapist, Childbirth Educators, Counsellors, Mental Health Clinicians and Lactation Consultants.

The first of our presenters was Emma Medeiros from Southern DHB who presented on Detection and Early Intervention for Perinatal Depression. Emma took us on a journey through a midwife’s eyes, useful screening tools and some case studies.

Marion Maw and Angela Smart presented on ‘Perinatal OCD – a Peer Perspective’. Angela was flown down from Tauranga to share her journey about living with Perinatal OCD and to inform healthcare providers to consider this when looking at triggers for perinatal distress. Marion talked about the Fixate Group and support available for those with OCD. A very powerful presentation from these two.

Next up was Denise Ives from ‘The Breast Room‘® on ‘Our work with families’. Denise spoke about support found at The Breast Room and especially the impact COVID-19 had on mums birthing during lockdown. Photo credit: Brenda Harwood/ODT on the release of Denise’s book ‘Mamas in Lockdown‘.

A well received discussion by Heather McMonigle and Hamish Mepham from Catholic Social Services, who presented ‘The Individual Experience | What do New Fathers Really Need?’. Hamish shared the importance and benefits of including dads in the parenting role and Heather spoke about the support groups available at Catholic Social Services.

Katy Jones from Plunket presented ‘Matrescence and Maternal Wellbeing’. Katy spoke about the transition to motherhood and about the Dunedin Maternal Wellbeing group she runs.

And finishing up was Maureen MacFarlane and Jocelyn Walker from AOD Southern DHB – ‘Managing Addictions during Pregnancy’. This was an eye opening presentation about different drugs and addictions and the impact they have on the mothers and baby.

The ‘southern hospitality’ felt in Ōtepoti Dunedin was reflected in the wonderful feedback from everyone who attend. The Haven Hall at the Salvation Army is a great venue and the catering from Ward St Depot was very tasty.

Some of the wonderful feedback we received:

“Better than I hoped it would be”

“Continue fantastic PD opportunities for us health professionals ‘on the ground’.”

“Interesting, educational, engaging. More knowledge to use in supporting clients.”

“Great speakers… thanks very much for an awesome day!”

“Everything was so valuable, loved it all!”

“Thank you so much, valuable experience”

“Great to know the different types of professions/services out there, what they provide and real life examples.”

“Found this to be holistic and useful.”

“The presenters were all very good. It was a thoughtful mix of topics and all were relevant and interesting to me.”