Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA

about Virginia Thorley

Virginia Thorley's special interests include: the role of mother-support groups; relationships and roles of professionals and volunteers in breastfeeding support; supporting breastfeeding post-discharge; ethics; culture; infant-feeding history; relactation; and clinical areas. She offers presentations in these topics to enhance your conference, or she will create new presentations on request, provided adequate lead time is available.Dr Thorley has spoken on four continents. She lives on the Eastern seaboard of Australia and is willing to travel to speak in Australia, Southeast Asia, Pacific Rim locations, the US and further afield.

In 2009 she will offer a stress management workshop, tailored to your audience's needs.

official bio

Virginia Thorley is one of the pioneers of the breastfeeding movement in Australia. Her interest began when, living in a remote area, she sought personal breastfeeding help from La Leche League by letter. She has subsequently filled a number of roles for the Australian Breastfeeding Association. Dr Thorley has published widely in refereed journals, as well as books for mothers (now out of print). She was in the first cohort to certify IBCLC in 1985, and is a Medical Historian with two research higher degrees. In 2008 she was inducted as a Fellow of International Lactation Consultant Association.

sessions

Virginia Thorley is pleased to provide presentations on the following topics to professional and parenting conferences. Presentations on other topics may be available upon request and subject to sufficient development lead-time. (For CERP topics, required paperwork will be provided promptly to meet CERP deadlines)

"First Weeks: Why Mothers Abandon Breastfeeding - An Action Analysis"
60 - 75 minutes

Early abandonment of breastfeeding after discharge from hospital is a common situation globally. This presentation examines the situations, the causes, why current measures have failed to reverse the trend, and where to go from here.Note: This session can be expanded to 75 mins to meet conference programming requirements.

"Who 'Owns' Breastfeeding? Relationships and Roles in Supporting the Mother"
60 - 60 minutes

This presentation discusses the sometimes overlapping roles of IBCLCs and breastfeeding counsellors in assisting the mother and baby, identifies potential areas of friction,and advocates communication so that all parties can work together for the benefit of the mother and baby.Note: This session brings out into the open some of the issues faced by IBCLCs in private practice over the place of the private-practice IBCLC, who works for a fee, in relation to the unpaid breastfeeding counsellor, and how the both parties can make the relationship work.

"Breasts for Hire and Shared Breastfeeding: Wet Nursing and Cross-Nursing in 20th Century Australia"
30 - 60 minutes

This presentation combines a cultural history with implications for practice today. While the professional wet nurse has disappeared from Western countries, informal sharing of breastfeeding continues, often underground. Dr Thorley addresses community attitudes, the personal feelings of audience members, and health issues.Note: This presentation fits well into a session on culture.

"Establishing a Private Practice"
60 - 60 minutes

This presentation covers the basics of establishing a private practice, including why enter private practice, business essentials and promotion, considerations in setting fees, the importance of networking, knowing when to refer, isolation and what to do about it, the pitfalls and difficult clients, setting boundaries, looking after oneself, and keeping up to date.Note: This is a very practical session, designed to provide information that attendees can use. Virginia draws on her long experience to provide examples to illustrate specific situations. The speaker was the first IBCLC in her state and in the entire northern half of Australia.

"Informal human milk banks in Australia in the 1970s: Policy development and actuality"
30 - 30 minutes

Report of research then in progress, at "History in the Making Day"