PANDA is the only organisation in Australia to offer a free, nationwide secondary consultation service for healthcare providers, with a specialist focus on perinatal mental health.
We are committed to providing healthcare providers with evidence and practice-based information and tools they need when caring for the mental health and wellbeing of expecting and new parents, their babies and support people.
If you are a healthcare provider supporting someone experiencing mental health distress during pregnancy or while caring for a baby, PANDA can equip you with expert guidance and information about supporting your client’s perinatal mental health and wellbeing.
PANDA support for healthcare providers
PANDA’s Helpline clinicians provide secondary consultations for a wide range of enquiries:
Clinical consultations
- Referral pathways for PANDA programs and services.
- Clinical case formulation.
- Exploration of risk assessment and crisis management options.
- Advice on treatment planning and/or treatment options, including safety planning.
- Culturally sensitive, person-centred and trauma-informed best practice perinatal mental healthcare.
- Specialist perinatal referral options for local, community-based supports in your client’s area.
Professional development
- Information about evidence-based psycho-educational and therapeutic approaches to enhance perinatal mental health and psychosocial wellbeing outcomes.
- Debriefing and reflecting on practice.
- Support for healthcare providers to upskill in perinatal mental health, including information about upcoming educational and training opportunities in the perinatal sector.
- Help exploring the PANDA Learning Hub and other resources.
We speak to healthcare providers from every sector of perinatal care. From GPs and psychiatrists to maternal child health nurses, mental health clinicians, midwives and family support workers – if you have a query about perinatal mental health and pathways to care, we welcome your enquiry.
Accessing a secondary consultation with PANDA
There are two ways to request a secondary consultation with one of PANDA’s Secondary Consultation service clinicians:
- Email secondaryconsult@panda.org.au with your enquiry.
- Call 1300 726 306 and follow the prompts.
PANDA’s Secondary Consultation Service is available Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm AEST/AEDT excluding public holidays.
If you would like to refer someone to PANDA, please complete the below form:
Calling the PANDA Helpline - Support for healthcare providers
Listen to a call example where a midwife calls the secondary consultation service.
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PANDA National Helpline
Find someone to talk to, Monday to Saturday.
1300 726 306
Call 000 for police and ambulance if you or someone else are in immediate danger
Talk with friends or family
Consider talking about how you are feeling with someone you trust. This might be a friend or family member. Once you starting talking you might be surprised at how many others have had similar experiences and the support they can provide you.
Talk with your doctor
Talking with your doctor can be an important step to getting the help you need. They should be able to give you non-judgemental support, assessment, diagnosis, and ongoing care and treatment. They can also refer you to specialists such as a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist.
Get help now
If you are having suicidal thoughts or are feeling disorientated it’s important to get help immediately. PANDA is not a crisis service, if you need immediate support call Lifeline 13 11 14 (24/7).