28/02/2025
Hi👋
There seems to be a few people recently visiting my socials, I thought it was about time I re-introduced myself (it's been a long time! I'm terrible at social media....).
I'm Dr Naomi - Ballarat born and raised, I left for Adelaide after finishing highschool, to study medicine at the University of Adelaide. I ended up spending 12 years in South Australia, finishing med school, working as a junior doctor in hospitals there (in Adelaide and Port Augusta), spending 2 years working specifically in Obstetrics/Gynaecology and Paediatrics, during which time I completed diplomas in obstetrics/gynaecology (DRANZCOG) and Child Health (DCH), before moving from the hospitals into the community and completing the requirements to become a fellowed General Practitioner (FRACGP). But it was after having my own first child that I developed a passion for breastfeeding medicine and infant sleep/settling. After my second child was born, I pursued further study in these areas (which were bascially non-existant during medical training and even the diplomas) through, what was then called, "the Possums clinic" (founded by Dr Pamela Douglas), completing the requirements to be accredited as a Neuroprotective Developmental Care (NDC) practitioner through Possums (now the NDC Institute).
This passion has led me away from mainstream General Pracitice, and into practice focused exclusively on perinatal and infant health - including:
> Preconception (pre-pregnancy) planning
> Pregnancy (antenatal and postnatal) care, including pregnancy shared care (accredited through Grampians Health)
> Newborn and infant care, including feeding, sleeping and settling, gut-health concerns (including CMPI) and general well-baby check-ups (including 6 week checks) - and I take a neuroprotective developmental care approach to this care, which is evidence-based and biologically-aligned 😀
> Breastfeeding/lactation consultations 🤱 (but also very happy to address concerns or questions related to bottle feeding👩🍼) - I'm hopefully not far off now from being certified as an IBCLC
To do these things well, takes time... time that isn't generally available in a standard GP appointment. This is one of the reasons I decided to branch out into something different. Now all my new patient appointments are 60-90 minutes, allowing time for the thorough, holistic approach that I think these things need and deserve! But because I am a GP, everyone who holds a Medicare care can access Medicare rebates, which subsidise the cost for my appointments, and no referral is required!
Working out of The Centre For Perinatal Health & Parenting. Ballarat, VIC means that these long appointments are provided in a beautiful, comfortable and designed-for-just-this environment! I'll have to post some photos of my room and the space here...it's just beautiful - you might not want to leave! 😉
And I have availability as early as next week at the time of posting this, so currently no long waits to get an appointment.
Let me know - is there anything else you'd like to know about me or what I offer here? 🧐💁♀️
Photo: Her Golden Point
