About us

Thank you for engaging with us at Monash Women’s.

Overview

Monash Women’s cares for the health of women and girls through all life stages who live in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, a catchment area that is diverse, vibrant and ever-growing.

We also provide higher level care for those with more complex needs from across Victoria, both in pregnancy related matters and in gynaecology care and women’s health as a tertiary/quaternary referral centre.

Monash Women’s is a recognised leader in the provision of complex pregnancy care, fetal diagnostics, endometriosis care, treatment of complex pelvic floor disorders, gynaecological cancer care and research and development bringing fresh clinical ideas, innovation and developments to the bedside and the wards.

Monash Women’s provides over 14,000 outpatient gynaecology appointments, almost 95,000 maternity appointments, over 4,600 gynaecology and over 3,600 maternity surgeries and cares for 16,500 inpatients across five hospitals and community settings every single year and are proud to do this with a relentless pursuit of not only excellence but best evidence based care and considering each person and their individual needs.

Our world class services will expand from 2023, as the Sandringham Hospital maternity, newborn and gynaecology services join Monash Women’s. As a part of Monash Women’s, families in the local area will now have access to tertiary level services closer to home.

Monash Women’s is affiliated with Monash University and a number of other universities for research and training. We provide training and clinical placement for trainee doctors and midwives as part of their university requirements.

Why Monash Women’s

At Monash Women’s, we strive to provide the highest standard of maternity care possible for all women. Our aim is for all women to have care that is woman-centred with a positive and supported birth experience. We take pride in caring for over 10,000 women and their families each year and consider every pregnancy and birth important and individual.

We uniquely integrate in one organisation primary, secondary and tertiary health services, as well as world renowned research and teaching facilities. Monash Health has a role in specialist care for greater Melbourne, regional Victoria and interstate.

Our maternity sites include Monash Medical Centre (Clayton), Dandenong Hospital, Casey Hospital, Pakenham Health Centre, and Sandringham Hospital. Learn more about our sites.

We also have dedicated Perinatal Care Centre in Monash Medical Centre to provide care for women with complex and high risk pregnancies.

Our integrated maternity service provides one of Australia’s safest levels of maternity care for you and your baby.

Meet the team

Women’s and Newborn Program

A/Prof Ryan Hodges

Program Director, Women’s and Newborn | Monash Health

Director of Maternity Services | Monash Health

Andrea Rindt

Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Women’s and Children’s Program

Jen Francis

General Manager, Women’s and Newborn | Monash Health

Director of Midwifery | Monash Health

Monash Women’s Maternity

Karen Sawyer
Clinical Midwife Consultant  | Practice Enhancement

Kerrie Papacostas
Midwife Coordinator

Dr Rebecca Fradkin
Maternity GP Liaison Officer

Sancha O’Donoghue
Clinical Nurse | Midwife Consultant | Breastfeeding Services

Jo Forsey
Quality Manager – Women’s and Newborn

Bronwen Grigg
Quality Partner – Women’s and Newborn

Monash Medical Centre

Dr John Regan
Head of Obstetrics

Monique Johnstone

Director Clinical Operations | Maternity Services

Amethyst  Team

Elizabeth Georgiev
Midwife Manager

Dr Pete Neil
Obstetric Consultant

Opal Team

Hannah Oppy
Midwife Manager

Dr John Regan
Obstetric Consultant

Topaz Team

Ros Minissale
Midwife Manager

Dr Ravi Kashyap
Obstetric Consultant

Amber Team

Nereda Hand
Midwife Manager

A/Prof Kirsten Palmer
Obstetric Consultant

Emerald Team

Stephanie Hill 
Interim Midwife Manager

Dr Heather Wark
Obstetric Consultant

Birth Suite

Karen Taylor
Midwife Manager

Dandenong Hospital

Dr Mark Tarrant
Director of Obstetrics

Jacquie Meija
Acting -Director Clinical Operations | Maternity Services

Turquoise Team

Bridie Mills
Midwife Manager

Dr Chee Kuan Chew
Obstetric Consultant

Jade Team

Melissa Bast
Midwife Manager

Dr Michelle Schlipalius
Obstetric Consultant

Quartz Team

Lauren Hunter
Midwife Manager

Dr Gagan Kaur
Obstetric Consultant

Casey Hospital

Dr Mark Tarrant
Director of Obstetrics

Jacquie Meija
Acting Director Clinical Operations | Maternity Services

Sapphire Team

Bethany Johns 
Acting Midwife Manager

Dr Mark Tarrant
Obstetric Consultant

Ruby Team

Karen Brown
Midwife Manager

Dr Jörg Kemper
Obstetric Consultant

Diamond Team

Tania Sharrock
Midwife Manager

Dr Marziya Kadir 
Obstetric Consultant

Sandringham Hospital

Dr John Regan
Director of Obstetrics, Clayton and Sandringham

Dr Elske Posma
Director of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Sandringham

Monique Johnstone

Acting Director Clinical Operations | Maternity Services Clayton and Sandringham

Coral Team

Dr Elske Posma
Director of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Sandringham

Fay Presbury
Midwife Manager

Continuity of care – how do our maternity teams work?

Research shows that continuity of care and carer improves women’s experiences and outcomes. All women are allocated to a maternity team at booking.

All teams have a shared leadership (midwife and obstetrician) to provide a comprehensive collaborative approach to pregnancy, birth and postnatal care. For a woman experiencing a pregnancy where there is no anticipated problem this may mean that most of that care is provided by a primary level care provider (i.e., midwife or GP). If complications arise the obstetrician or other specialist medical staff from your team will provide consultation and advice. If a woman experiences a pregnancy where there are maternal or fetal complications the majority of care will be with specialist team medical staff, with midwives providing midwifery care as required.

Continuity of care within teams will enable women greater consistency in care throughout pregnancy, birth and the postnatal stay. Women will have increased opportunity to see clinicians they have met before (doctor, midwife and allied health) during their pregnancy visits at the hospital, in labour, birth and postnatal period.

If you have other queries, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section of this website.