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Dr Della Forster |
RN, RM, DipAppSci (Nurs), BHealthSci (Nurs), MMid, PhD |
Senior Research Fellow |
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| Email: d.forster@latrobe.edu.au |
| Telephone: 03 8341 8573 |
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Della has been a midwife since 1989. She joined MCHR in April 1999 as joint project coordinator of the ABFAB breastfeeding trial. Della completed her PhD in March 2005 using data from ABFAB. She was a joint Chief Investigator of the Statewide review of public in-hospital postnatal care (PinC) and is currently a Chief Investigator on the NHMRC-funded randomised controlled trial of caseload midwifery. She also works half time as a Midwifery Consultant to The Royal Women’s Hospital. |
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| MAJOR RESEARCH INTERESTS |
Current research interests: models of maternity care, breastfeeding (particularly trials), postnatal care, and herbal and vitamin supplement use in the perinatal period. |
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| CURRENT PROJECTS |
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Caseload midwifery for women at low risk of medical complications: a randomised controlled trial (COSMOS) |
| Team: |
Dr Helen McLachlan, Dr Della Forster, Ms Mary-Anne Davey, Prof Judith Lumley, Ms Tanya Farrell, Prof Jeremy Oats, Ms Lisa Gold, Prof Ulla Waldenstrom, Prof Leah Albers. Project coordinator: Mary Anne Biro. PhD student: Michelle Newton. |
| Funding: |
NHMRC |
| Status: |
Recruitment, intervention and data collection |
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AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO POSTNATAL CARE: A PILOT STUDY (PinC Program) |
| Team: |
Della Forster, Helen McLachlan, Tanya Farrell, Tracey Savage, Lisa Gold, Jane Yelland |
| Funding: |
RWH Foundation, Faculty of Health Sciences (La Trobe University ), Department of Human Services Victoria |
| Status: |
Pilot complete, analysis and reporting underway |
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PinC Private - a review of postnatal care in private hospitals in Victoria |
| Team: |
Jo Rayner, Della Forster, Helen McLachlan, Jane Yelland, Louise Peters |
| Funding: |
MCHR and Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University |
| Status: |
Papers in preparation |
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PinC ANEW pilot project |
| Team: |
Della Forster, Helen McLachlan, Jane Yelland, Jo Rayner, Stephanie Brown, Kelsey Hegarty, Jane Gunn, Lisa Love, Margie Cass, Jenni Kelly |
| Funding: |
Faculty of Health Sciences (La Trobe University ) |
| Status: |
Paper in preparation |
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PinC Package: a feasibility study of a patient preference approach to individualised flexible postnatal care |
| Team: |
Della Forster, Helen McLachlan, Jo Rayner, Jane Yelland, Lisa Gold |
| Funding: |
Faculty of Health Sciences Research Support Grant (La Trobe University ) |
| Status: |
Second paper in preparation |
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PinC Documents: a study exploring the documentation used in postnatal units in Victoria |
| Team: |
Della Forster, Helen McLachlan, Tracey Savage, Jo Rayner |
| Funding: |
Unfunded Masters project |
| Status: |
Project complete, minor thesis submitted (T Savage), papers in preparation |
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Peer support for breastfeeding: a feasibility study |
| Team: |
Della Forster, Helen McLachlan, Mary-Ann Davey , Lisa Amir, Lisa Gold, Jo Rayner |
| Funding: |
La Trobe University |
| Status: |
Paper in preparation |
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The views, experiences and referral patterns of Victorian IVF specialists regarding fertility enhancement by complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) |
| Team: |
Jo Rayner, Della Forster, Helen McLachlan, Michelle Kealy, Maree Pirotta |
| Funding: |
La Trobe University Faculty Health Sciences Faculty Grant. |
| Status: |
Data collection |
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Women's attitudes and experiences of breastfeeding. Does maternal weight make a difference? |
| Team: |
Lisa Amir, Della Forster, Kate Stern, Jo-Anne Rayner |
| Funding: |
La Trobe Research Grants Scheme |
| Status: |
Focus groups and in-depth interviews in progress |
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MILC: Mothers and Infants Lactation Cohort study |
| Team: |
Della Forster, Lisa Amir, Helen McLachlan, Anita Moorhead, Helene Johns, Kerri McEgan, Chris Scott, Rachael Ford, Kinga Pemo |
| Funding: |
seeking funding |
| Status: |
Project development, seeking funding and ethics approval |
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WAVE. Women’s and staff views: an evaluation of maternity care at Barwon Health |
| Team: |
Della Forster, Helen McLachlan, Mary-Ann Davey, Therese Cotter, Jenny Kelly. PhD students: Jane Morrow and Michelle Newton |
| Funding: |
Department of Human Services Victoria and Barwon Health. |
| Status: |
Data collection. |
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DIABETES & ANTENATAL MILK EXPRESSING (DAME): A PILOT PROJECT TO INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL |
| Team: |
Forster, Kerri McEgan, Anita Moorhead, Rachael Ford, Gillian Opie, Susan Walker, Cath McNamara, Gemma Wills |
| Funding: |
Mercy Hospital for Women and Novo-nordisk |
| Status: |
Paper in preparation |
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DIABETES & ANTENATAL MILK EXPRESSING (DAME): A RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL |
| Team: |
Della Forster, Kerri McEgan, Susan Walker, Lisa Amir, Susan Jacobs, Gillian Opie, Cath McNamara, Rachael Ford, Susan McDonald |
| Funding: |
Application pending |
| Status: |
Protocol developed, seeking funding and ethics approval |
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| South Asian women’s experience of living with gestational diabetes mellitus: Attitude and barriers to management |
| Team: |
Mridula Bandyopadhyay, Rhonda Small, Jeremy Oats, Della Forster, Amanda Aylward |
| Funding: |
Application pending |
| Status: |
Protocol developed, seeking funding and ethics approval |
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| PUBLICATIONS (Selected) |
Articles in refereed journals
McLachlan H, Forster D, Davey MA, Lumley J, Farrell T, Oats J, Gold L, Waldenström U, Albers L, Biro M . COSMOS: COmparing Standard Maternity care with One-to-one midwifery Support: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2008, August 5; 8:35.
Forster D, McLachlan H, Rayner J, Yelland J, Gold L, Rayner S. The early postnatal period: exploring women’s views, expectations and experiences of care using focus groups in Victoria, Australia. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2008, Jul 22; 8:27.
Forster D, Denning A, Wills G, Bolger M, McCarthy E. Herbal medicine use during pregnancy in a group of Australian women. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, in press, accepted 10th June 2006
Forster D, McLachlan H, Lumley J. Factors associated with continuing to feed any breast milk at six months postpartum in a group of Australian women. BMC International Breastfeeding Journal, in press, accepted 27 th April 2006.
Yelland J , McLachlan H, Forster D, Rayner J, Lumley J. How is maternal psychosocial health assessed and promoted in the early postnatal period? Findings from a review of hospital postnatal care in Victoria , Australia . Midwifery; In press.
McLachlan HL, Forster DA. Initial breastfeeding attitudes and practices of women born in Turkey , Vietnam and Australia after giving birth in Australia . BMC International Breastfeeding Journal 2006, 1:7 (7 April 2006).
Gunn J, Hegarty K, Nagle C, Forster D, Brown S. Lumley J. Putting woman  centered care into practice: a new (ANEW) approach to psychosocial risk assessment during pregnancy. Birth (2006) 33 (1), 46-55.
Forster D, McLachlan H, Lumley J, Beanland C, Waldenström U, Amir L, and ABFAB team. Two mid-pregnancy interventions to increase the initiation and duration of breastfeeding: a randomized controlled trial. Birth 31(3):176-182 (2004).
Amir L, Forster D, McLachlan H, Lumley J. Incidence of breast abscess in lactating women: report from an Australian cohort. BJOG 111 (12): 1378-1381 (2004).
Forster D, McLachlan H, Lumley J, Beanland C, Waldenström U, Harris H, Earl D, Dyson K. Trial Protocol. ABFAB. Attachment to the breast and family attitudes to breastfeeding. The effect of breastfeeding education in the middle of pregnancy on the duration of breastfeeding: a randomised c ontrolled trial. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 3:5 (29 August 2003) [on line] (2003).
Waldenström U, McLachlan H, Forster D, Brennecke S, Brown S. Team Midwife Care: Maternal and infant outcomes. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 41: (August) 257-268 (2001).
Waldenström U, Brown S, McLachlan H, Forster D, Brennecke S. Does team midwife care increase satisfaction with antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care? A randomized controlled trial. Birth. 27 (3): 156-167 (2000). |
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Content Approved by: Director, Mother and Child Health Research
Page maintained by: Administrator
Last Updated: 26 August 2007 |
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