Every Voice, Every Path
Saturday 20th June
Hyatt Regency Sydney
“Every Voice, Every Path,” reflects a commitment to inclusive, evidence-based, and compassionate perinatal care, honouring diverse lived experiences, supporting families and the workforce, and bringing visibility and hope to every journey.
Gidget Foundation Australia (GFA) is delighted to announce its third biennial Perinatal Mental Health Conference, which will be held at Hyatt Regency Sydney on Saturday 20th June 2026. We are so grateful to have an inspirational line up of leaders in the perinatal field who will be discussing the latest research, approaches, and clinical interventions we are so passionate about.
The Conference creates space for the voices shaping contemporary perinatal mental health care in Australia. By holding lived experience alongside evidence and innovation, we’re building a more humane, inclusive and hopeful way forward.
This hybrid event will provide you with time to connect with other health professionals in the perinatal space, learn new ideas, and be inspired. It will be a wonderful opportunity to connect and network with fellow GFA Clinicians, and the GFA team.
Getting There
The Hyatt Regency Sydney is located right near the water in the heart of Darling Harbour. Getting there is easy, no matter how you’re travelling:
- Public transport: Sydney light rail, bus stations and ferry terminals are all nearby.
Plan your Trip. - Driving: Parking in Darling Harbour is easy - there’s a Wilson Parking directly opposite the hotel - contact the Front Desk to obtain a 24hrs multi-entry, self-parking ticket.
Accessibility
The Maritime Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency is accessible for all. A Lift, escalator and stairs, are available leading up to the ballroom.
To learn more about Hyatt Regency's Accessibility, click here.
To learn more about accessibility around Darling Harbour, click here.
Please reach out to our team to learn more about accessibility options while attending the conference.
Early Bird Offer!
Get in quick to secure early bird tickets to Gidget Foundation Australia's Perinatal Mental Health Conference 2026. Offer ends Thursday 30th April.
In-Person Delegate
$350
$300
In-Person Delegate (Student price)
$300
$250
Virtual Delegate
$250
$200
Ticket info: Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. For more information, view the FAQs.
Keynote Speakers
Caring in Context: The Perfect Mother Myth in Perinatal Care
Perinatal clinicians work within complex relational environments that are shaped by deep cultural systems. Powerful narratives about what a ‘good mother’ should be influence not only the mothers we support, but the structures in which we practice. Yet these forces often remain implicit, even though they profoundly shape maternal distress and professional care.
This keynote introduces a sociological framework for understanding the social construction of motherhood, including the distinction between mother, mothering, and motherhood, and why this language matters in clinical care. Through the Fish Tank Model of Motherhood, Sociologist Dr Sophie Brock explores how the 'Perfect Mother Myth' operates as an invisible structure - shaping maternal expectations, intensifying guilt and shame, and influencing common postpartum themes such as infant sleep, feeding, identity shifts, and relational strain.
The session also invites reflective consideration of how these same cultural ideals may shape our professional identities and self-expectations. Where might the pressure to 'walk our talk' heighten guilt or self-surveillance? Drawing on concepts such as matrescence, the anger–guilt trap, and the care–career conundrum, this presentation offers both reflective prompts and practical language to take into clinical work. By naming the cultural forces shaping maternal experience, clinicians can reduce shame, deepen relational attunement, and foster more sustainable, humanised care - for their clients and for themselves.
Dr Sophie Brock is a Sociologist and Mother specialising in Motherhood Studies. She delivers education and professional training on the social construction of motherhood, translating sociological insights into practical frameworks that support mothers and the clinicians and practitioners who work with them.
Bringing in the Baby: Infant Observation in Perinatal Mental Health Care
This presentation will offer a unifying model of care termed of “listening in;” listening with an intentional suspension of expectations and an openness to being surprised. Using a detailed clinical case, it will reveal the value of taking time to listen to the baby’s voice as communicated by their behavior. In recognizing the baby as an ally, we gain access the transformative power of the infant-caregiver relationship in healthy development and healing from adversity.
When human infant and caregiver meet, they get to know each other in a messy, culturally embedded, moment-by-moment developmental process over time. In parallel, when clinicians meet and get to know families, a stance of not-knowing — with a willingness to make mistakes— guides the process of building a relationship of trust.
Drawing on Dr. Gold’s most recent books Getting to Know You: Lessons in Early Relational Health from Infants and Caregivers and The Power of Discord: Why the Ups and Downs of Relationships are the Secret to Intimacy, Resilience, and Trust the presentation will offer clinical application of core early relational health principles that inform the model of listening in. These include the repair theory of human development, parental reflective functioning, and the healing power of safety.
Dr. Gold is a pediatrician and writer who practiced general pediatrics for 20 years and now specializes in early relational health. She has clinical experience in a variety of settings and currently works with an immigrant community in rural Massachusetts. She is the author of 5 books written for both professionals and caregivers. Dr. Gold speaks frequently to a variety of audiences in the US and around the world.
Perinatal sexuality
The transition to parenthood is one of the most profound periods of change in a person’s life, encompassing physical, emotional, relationship, family, and environmental changes. These changes frequently impact sexuality and sexual function during pregnancy and the postnatal period.
While variations in desire, arousal, body image, intimacy, and sexual functioning are common in the short term, they can be experienced as distressing and isolating when not openly acknowledged or compassionately supported.
Furthermore, the way these changes in sexuality are understood, communicated about, and managed, can have important longer‑term implications for intimate relationships and sexual wellbeing far into the future.
Despite this, sexuality is seldom discussed in antenatal or postnatal care, leaving many individuals and couples feeling unprepared and unsupported.
This presentation will discuss the many perinatal factors that impact sexuality. It will guide the practitioner to feel confident in raising the topic with their clients, use a trauma informed, person-centered, biopsychosociosexual approach for assessment, and will offer practical strategies for support and management, that can be integrated into their perinatal mental health practice.
Dr Anita Elias (she/her) is a medical practitioner with a background in General Practice. She trained in individual, couple and family therapy, and has specialised and worked in Sexual Medicine and Sexual and Relationship Therapy for 30 years. She welcomes diversity, uses a person‑centred, collaborative, biopsychosociocultural approach for people presenting with sexual difficulties.
FAQs
If you have anything else you want to ask, please reach out to us.
Tickets can be purchased via this link. If you are experiencing any difficulty purchasing tickets, please contact conference@gidgetfoundation.org.au
Early bird ticket discounts are being offered until Thursday 30th April. Please see our home page for more information. Students will receive a discounted rate on tickets.
The cost of your ticket includes morning tea, afternoon tea, and lunch. There will be snacks and drinks available throughout the day as well.
Please see here for a list of restaurant recommendations in the Sydney CBD.
This conference ensures CPD opportunities. Please check with your governing body with how many CPD points you can claim.
Yes, you will receive a Zoom link and a password prior to the conference. Please only access this at your designated time/date to attend.
Please email conference@gidgetfoundation.org.au if you can’t access the Zoom. If you are having any other difficulties, the live chat will be monitored, and you will be assisted as soon as possible.
