Upcoming Events
2026 Perinatal Substance Use Symposium
Workshop Description
REGISTER FOR THE SYMPOSIUM HERE
2026 Program
Download a PDF of the program here
Program subject to changes
Friday 18th September
Time |
Presentation Title |
Speaker |
| 08:30-09:00 | Registration | |
| 09:00-09:10 | Conference Welcome & Acknowledgement of Country | |
| 09:10-10:40 | Session One: Update on Epidemiology and Management of Substance Use | |
| 09:10-09:40 | Cannabis Use in Pregnancy: A Public Health Perspective | Anne O'Connor |
| 09:40-10:00 | Trends in Drug Use in Preconception and Perinatal Care | Debra Kennedy |
| 10:00-10:20 | SUPPS in Action - The SLHD Story | Chat Salvador and Kylie Holmes |
| 10:20-10:40 | Resilient Families - a Home Visiting Model of Care | Gabrielle Skrobofski |
| 10:40-11:00 | Morning Tea | |
| 11:00-13:00 | Session Two: Substance Use and Brain Development | |
| 11:00-11:30 | Opioids and methamphetamines - impact on developing brain | Kelly Clemens |
| 11:30-12:00 | Epigenetics - Resilience After Prenatal Substance Exposure | Ju Lee Oei |
| 12:00-12.30 | Cerebral Palsy and Prenatal Drug Exposure - How often and how? | Meredith Ward |
| 12:30-13:00 | Smoking cessation pharmacotherapy and pregnancy/prenatal outcomes | Danielle Tran |
| 13:00-14:00 | Lunch | |
| 14:00-16:00 | Session Three: Update on Management of Alcohol Exposure | |
| 14:00-14:45 | Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder - Update Screening, Management and Pathways | Suzy Byrnes |
| 14:45-15:15 | Alcohol screening and current trends in management - a maternity perspective | Kelly McNamara |
| 15:15-15:45 | Management of alcohol use in pregnancy - drug and alcohol perspective | Karyn Avery |
| 15:45-16:00 | Closing Remarks and Discussion | |
| 16:00pm | Afternoon Tea & Close | |
Saturday 19th September
Time |
Presentation Title |
Speaker Name |
| 08:30-09:00 | Registration | |
| 09:00 - 10:25 | Session One: Perinatal Care Models | |
| 09:00-09:25 | Overview of the NGO Alcohol and Other Drug Sector services for women and children | Michele Campbell |
| 09:25-09:45 | Making changes in mother/child residential rehab centres | Sally Regan |
| 09:45-10:05 | Peer-to-peer support - creating connections | Jess Doumany |
| 10:05-10:25 | Biological testing: patient centred approach | Vicki Chase |
| 10:25-10:50 | Morning Tea | |
| 10:50-12:15 | Session Two: Postnatal Care Models | |
| 10:50-11:05 | From Possum to Platypus - Creating a supportive playgroup | Alicia Foran |
| 11:05-11:45 | Eat Sleep Console – The Christchurch Experience | Nicola Campbell & Claire Vivian |
| 11:45-12:15 | CCLHD D&A model of care | Vicki Chase |
| 12:15-13:15 | Lunch | |
| 13:15-14:10 | Session Three: Opportunities for Longitudinal Care | |
| 13:15-13:45 | Hepatitis C Management - Integration of Care | Marianne Martinello |
| 13:45-14:00 | What's new in contraception | Kelly McNamara |
| 14:00-14:10 | Closing Remarks | Meredith Ward |
| 14:10 | Afternoon Tea & Finish | |
Speakers
Nicola Campbell and Claire Vivian
Nicola and Claire work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Christchurch Women’s Hospital in New Zealand.
Nicola is a Neonatal Outreach Clinical Nurse Specialist. Her work involves supporting families in the community caring for their premature and medically complex infants in their own homes.
One of Nicola’s portfolio responsibilities includes Neonatal Substance Withdrawal. She is a member of the Ngā Taonga Pēpi team and has been integral in establishing the Eat Sleep Console programme within the Christchurch Neonatal Service. She also supports women in the community whose babies have been exposed to substances inutero and are experiencing effects of these, once they have been discharged from the hospital.
Claire is a Neonatal Consultant and a member of the Ngā Taonga Pēpi team. The team provides MDT care for pregnant women on opiate substitution and care for newborn babies exposed to antenatal substances. Claire provides long term outpatient follow-up for those babies who experienced difficulties in the newborn period as a result of substance exposure.