The Annual Obstetric Malpractice Conference continues to cover key medico legal obstetric issues, recent cases and offers unique networking opportunities between top obstetricians, midwives, neonatal staff, barristers and other legal professionals. This is the premier event of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region and has been very well-received over the last 8 years. No other event brings together such an excellent representation of top obstetric surgeons and barristers and other legal professionals with key addresses from leading obstetricians, midwives and lawyers, making it a key event on the obstetric, midwifery and legal calendar.

1. KEYNOTE ADDRESSES:
Coercion and Consent in Maternity Care
Professor Deborah Davis, Clinical Chair and
Professor of Midwifery, ACT Government
Health Directorate and University of
Canberra
Planning and Counselling for High Risk
Pregnancies: Best to Start Early!
Professor Michael Peek, Maternal Fetal
Medicine Subspecialist, The Canberra
Hospital and Professor of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology and Associate Dean,
The Australian National University
Overview of the Key Regulation
Midwifery Standards and Guidelines
Associate Professor Lynette Cusack RN, Chair,
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
Tanya Vogt, Executive Officer,
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
TOPICS INCLUDE:
– Report on the Review of the Assisted
Reproductive Treatment Act 1988 (SA)
– Learning and Communicating – The Power
Interplay
– Fetal Growth Restriction as a Risk Factor for
Stillbirth – How can we Improve Antenatal
Detection and Management?
– Stillbirth and Neonatal Deaths – A Plaintiff
Lawyer’s Perspective
– Wrongful Birth Damages in Australia –
Difficult Questions and Incomplete Answers
– MULTIDISCIPLINARY PANEL DISCUSSION:
Dealing with Poor Outcomes
– INSURANCE PERSPECTIVE: Emerging
Themes in Obstetrics Claims
– Managing Statewide Risk – How Can an
Insurer Add Value?
Obstetric Malpractice
Conference
Facilitating constructive discussion and
debate around the legal, ethical and medical
issues surrounding conception, pregnancy
and birth
8 – 9 August 2017 | Rendezvous Hotel, Melbourne
PRESENTING THE 9TH ANNUAL
REGISTER NOW www.informa.com.au/obstetric2017
RANZCOG
This conference has been approved as a RANZCOG Approved OG Meeting and
eligible Fellows of this College can claim 13 PD points for attendance.
Australian College of Midwives
CPD Recognised Activity

2. 8:50 OPENING | Opening remarks from the Chair
9:00 KEYNOTE OPENING ADDRESS | Coercion and Consent in
Maternity Care
—— Sometimes women decline a course of action recommended by
their caregiver
—— It is important that informed consent be seen as a process not a
singular event
—— This session explores the informed consent process, suggesting
ways that caregivers can engage constructively with women to
achieve the best outcome
Professor Deborah Davis, Clinical Chair and Professor of Midwifery,
ACT Government Health Directorate and University of Canberra
9:40 Report on the Review of the Assisted Reproductive
Treatment Act 1988 (SA)
In 2010 significant changes were made to the legislation governing
assisted reproduction in South Australia. The review of such
changes was conducted from December 2015 to January 2017, with
the report being tabled in parliament in April 2017. This talk will
discuss the findings and recommendations of the report including;
—— A responsive regulatory system in areas of rapidly changing
technology
—— The establishment of a donor-conception register
—— Access to A.R.T.
—— The need for long-term research, record-keeping, and follow up
Dr Sonia Allan, Health Law and Regulation, Consultant
10:20 Fetal Growth Restriction as a Risk Factor for Stillbirth –
How can we Improve Antenatal Detection and Management?
—— Definition of FGR – Which fetuses are at risk of poor perinatal
outcome?
—— Detection of FGR – How can we do better?
—— Management of pregnancies affected by FGR
Dr Julia Unterscheider, Consultant Obstetrician,
The Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne
11:00 Morning refreshments and networking
11:30 KEYNOTE ADDRESS | Planning and Counselling for High
Risk Pregnancies: Best to Start Early!
—— The importance and breadth of pre-pregnancy counselling
—— Covering the options including termination of pregnancy
—— The multidisciplinary approach
—— Planning after a loss
Professor Michael Peek, Maternal Fetal Medicine Subspecialist,
The Canberra Hospital and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
and Associate Dean, The Australian National University
12:10 Learning and Communicating – The Power Interplay
—— The value of interprofessional education in improving safety and
clinical outcomes
—— The influence of changes within the clinical environment on
professional working relationships
—— The varying power relationships that create barriers on
interprofessional education and the clinical environment
—— Strategies that can be implemented to overcome these barriers
Dr Helen Cooke, Clinical Midwifery Consultant,
NSW Pregnancy and Newborn Services Network (PSN)
12:50 Lunch and networking break
13:50 CASE STUDY | Defective Transvaginal Mesh Implants:
Important Legal Considerations for Clinicians
—— Case Study – The Johnson Johnson / Ethicon Class Action
—— Common manufacturer defences – The tactics that Clinicians
need to be aware of
—— The positive action that clinicians can take to assist and protect
patients
—— Where to now legally for clinicians using Transvaginal Mesh Implants
Jan Saddler, National Principal and Manager,
Shine Lawyers’ Class Actions Practice
14:30 RESEARCH | The Benefits of a Structured Documentation
and Communication Process when Pregnant Women Decline
Recommended Maternity Care
—— Despite strong awareness of women’s rights, refusal of
recommended care is stressful and complex for clinicians
—— A documentation and communication process provided
reassurance about medico-legal, professional and reputational
risks, but was limited by narrow and inconsistent uptake
—— The PACT (Personalised Alternative Care and Treatment) process
offers a robust and woman-centered approach to refusal of
recommended care
Bec Jenkinson, Mater Research Institute and School of Nursing,
Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland
15.10 Afternoon refreshment break and networking
15.30 Wrongful Birth Damages in Australia – Difficult Questions
and Incomplete Answers
Associate Professor Tina Cockburn, Australian Centre for Health
Law Research, QUT Faculty of Law, Brisbane
Bill Madden, Special Counsel, Carroll O’Dea Lawyers
16.10 MULTIDISCIPLINARY PANEL DISCUSSION | Dealing
with Poor Outcomes
—— Communication strategies in delivering bad news –
Multidisciplinary, use of ultrasound (often to explain and confirm
loss), techniques on explaining what has happened
—— Adequate and appropriate documentation, photos, information
collection, autopsy, genetic testing
—— Appropriate communication with other health professionals
—— Multidisciplinary perinatal loss – Follow up with all information
available
—— General issues eg: Lactation, contraception
Professor Michael Peek, Maternal Fetal Medicine Subspecialist,
The Canberra Hospital and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
and Associate Dean, The Australian National University
Dr Helen Cooke, Clinical Midwifery Consultant,
Pregnancy and Newborn Services Network
Dr Adrienne Gordon, Senior Lecturer, Obstetrics, Gynaecology and
Neonatology, Central Clinical School, NHMRC Early Career Fellow,
Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney
17:10 Closing remarks from the Chair
17:20 NETWORKING FUNCTION
Informa invites all speakers and delegates to an informal reception
to discuss the day’s issues and network with their peers.
Obstetric Malpractice Conference
Tuesday 8 August 2017 DAY 1
REGISTER NOW www.informa.com.au/obstetric2017

3. 8:50 OPENING | Opening Remarks from the Chair
9:00 KEYNOTE ADDRESS | Overview of the Key Regulation
Midwifery Standards and Guidelines
Associate Professor Lynette Cusack RN, Chair, Nursing and
Midwifery Board of Australia
Tanya Vogt, Executive Officer,
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
9:40 INSURANCE PERSPECTIVE | Emerging Themes in
Obstetrics Claims
—— What are we seeing in Victoria?
—— What does national and international experience tell us about
the future?
Sarah McPherson, Head of Medical Indemnity Claims, VMIA
10:10 Managing Statewide Risk – How Can an Insurer Add Value?
This session aims to provide a practical approach to managing risk
using data, insights and claims case studies and takes a statewide
view on:
—— How insights and data improve our risk management
—— The lessons we have learnt from claims and other insights
—— Statewide VMIA Maternity Risk Initiatives
Liz Cox, Head of Medical Indemnity Risk, VMIA
10:40 Morning refreshments and networking break
11:10 Stillbirth and Neonatal Deaths- A Plaintiff Lawyer’s
Perspective
—— How far have we come and what more is needed to reduce rates
of stillbirth – Examination of the Lancet findings and situation in
Australia
—— Medico legal issues and compensation for psychiatric injury for
perinatal deaths – A look around the country
—— Discussion about McManus v Murrumbidgee Local Area Health
Network [2016] NSWSC 1347
Dimitra Dubrow, Principal and Victorian Head of Medical Negligence,
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
11:50 Ending Preventable Stillbirths
—— Global and Australian data
—— How many are preventable?
—— Investigation and management
—— Support and care for families
Dr Adrienne Gordon, Senior Lecturer, Obstetrics, Gynaecology and
Neonatology, Central Clinical School, NHMRC Early Career Fellow,
Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney
12:30 EXPERT PANEL | The Testing of Opinion’s through
Discussion with Peers
John F Kennedy said “Too often we...enjoy the comfort of opinion
without the discomfort of thought”. This session discusses the
prospect of applying some of the principles associated with expert
witness conclaves to the process of obtaining a second opinion in
obstetrics and neonatology. The panel will present different
perspectives on what the legal framework has to offer, how that
might be applied in a clinical setting, and the advantages and
disadvantages of such an approach. Medical, legal, midwifery and
consumer perspectives will be considered and delegates are
encouraged to participate in the discussion.
Janine McIlwraith, Principal Lawyer, Slater and Gordon Lawyers
Dr Nicole Woodrow, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist/Ultrasonologist,
Royal Women’s Hospital and Women’s Ultrasound Melbourne
(WUMe)
Bill Madden, Special Counsel, Carroll O’Dea Lawyers
13:10 Lunch and networking break
14:10 CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE | Listening to Women –
The Birth Dignity Survey
Ellen O’Keefe, President, Safe Motherhood for All
14:50 CLOSING ADDRESS | Medical Chaperones – Problems with
the Third Wheel
A/Professor Vinay S Rane, Consultant OBGYN and Lawyer,
Melbourne Mothers and Monash University
15.30 Closing remarks from the Chair
15:40 Close of conference
DAY 2Obstetric Malpractice Conference
Wednesday 9 August 2017
Keep updated on exclusive speaker interviews and other specialist content pieces at
Informa Insights – www.informa.com.au/insights
SPONSORSHIP AND EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITIES
Excellent opportunities exist to showcase your organisation.
For further information, please contact:
Samantha Lister, Sponsorship Manager
Phone: (+61) 2 9080 4432
Email: Samantha.Lister@informa.com.au
VENUE DETAILS
Rendezvous Hotel, Melbourne, 328 Flinders St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: (03) 9250 1888, www.rendezvoushotels.com.au/Melbourne
BRONZE EXHIBITOR

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www.informa.com.au/obstetric2017
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Obstetric Malpractice Conference
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Pricing Details
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Two Day Conference PRICE GST TOTAL SAVE PRICE GST TOTAL
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