Presentations & Training

Health professionals have a key role in addressing the emotional and mental wellbeing of expecting and new parents. However, only a minority of callers to the PANDA National Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Helpline, have disclosed their concerns to their GP, midwife or Maternal and Child Health Nurse.

The reasons for this are complex. However, one reason is the lack of confidence and knowledge amongst many health professionals about how best to encourage such disclosures in the limited time they often have with patients and clients. PANDA training aims to address these obstacles. It is informed by the latest evidence, our learnings from the PANDA National Helpline, and the lived experience of our volunteers – who often accompany our staff to share their own story as part of training presentations. 

What do we cover? 

 PANDA delivers training or presentations on many areas of knowledge and skill. Recent trainings have addressed:

• Perinatal anxiety and depression – prevalence, spectrum, risk factors and impact
• Tending to the emotional and mental wellbeing of expecting and new parents
• Signs and symptoms of perinatal anxiety and depression – what to listen and look for
• Exploring and responding to risk in the perinatal period – mental illness, family violence, AOD, suicide and risk to child
• Recovery from perinatal anxiety and depression: interventions
• Lived experience stories and case studies
• How to create an environment that encourages disclosure
• How to have difficult conversations with expecting and new parents
• Perfectionism, shame and sense of ‘maternal failure’
• How PANDA can support professionals/volunteers in this work.

PANDA training sessions bring together theory and practice, and can incorporate lectures and powerpoints, videos, lived experience stories, role-plays and observations, and discussion-based learning activities. PANDA also offers professional development workshops three times per year for professionals working with expecting and new parents.

Who can benefit from PANDA training? 

Anyone working with expecting parents, parents and families in the perinatal period can benefit from PANDA training. PANDA trains Maternal and Child Health staff and Masters students, midwives and midwifery students, pharmacists, acute mental health teams, drug and alcohol workers, family support workers and social workers, counsellors and psychologists, playgroup and support group facilitators, allied health professionals and volunteers working in other organisations to support new parents (e.g. through in-home support, helplines and facilitating playgroups or support groups). 

To request a PANDA training or presentation contact our Community Education and Training Coordinator Sarah Marlowe in the national office on (03) 9926 9032 or sarah.marlowe@panda.org.au , or fill in the online request form.

Feedback from recent sessions includes:

I got a real insight into the journey many women have. Their stories will resonate with me and help me improve the way I do my job. Inspirational. – Midwife 

Interactive, accessible, informative and applicable to our service. – Family Support Worker

I loved the reflections and practical examples of real cases and stories. [I learned] the importance of curiosity, exploration and open questions. – Midwife/Maternal and Child Health student