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The birth of her first child sparked great interest in supporting families through the perinatal phase for Vanessa, one of our compassionate and highly skilled psychologists. She specialises in supporting women and families through the perinatal period and experiences of perinatal loss. Vanessa joined Rural Health Connect to ensure people in rural communities can access the same quality of care as those in metropolitan areas. 

We spoke with Vanessa to learn more about her and the support she offers families.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey so far? 

So I've been working as a psychologist for about 10 years. I initially started out in the public sector, working with people who were experiencing quite severe mental illness. After the birth of my first child in 2016, I became really interested in working with perinatal issues. And since then have kind of progressively moved into working in private practice, supporting parents who are either about to have a child or have recently had a child, and in the early years of parenting as well.

What drew you to specialises in perinatal grief and loss? 

I've been working for a number of years in a perinatal setting and have worked with a number of parents who had pregnancy loss or lost a child. I know that it can be absolutely devastating. I also know that there's a really big difference when people are able to access compassionate support … particularly in preventing potentially experiencing further trauma. There's a huge impact of having that support in that period.

Why did you decide to join Rural Health Connect and when did you join? 

So I've been part of Rural Health Connect since May. A colleague of mine recommended it, she had a really great experience with Rural Health Connect and recommended that I have a look.

I'm really aware of the challenges for people to be able to access [support] in rural and regional areas. [Rural Health Connect] is a great service that enables those linkages and just to be a really small part of that has been really rewarding. I think it's also fantastic that under Medicare, those telehealth sessions are available, which really makes it accessible. 

I feel like it's a fantastic way to be able to provide support.