Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Research Group

• Collaboration with the Centre for Women’s and Children’s Mental Health, Monash University – Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (Prof. Andrew Lewis)  
• Creative and arts-based approaches to perinatal care (Dr Helena Anolak)  
• Infant sleep interventions: outcomes for caregivers and infants, and the breastfeeding relationship (Dr Brooke Van Zanden)  
• Mental Health Begins at Birth: Improving Dyadic Synchrony and Child Mental Health Trajectories by Addressing Childbirth-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Dr Alysha-leigh Fameli) 
• The Association Between Dissociation and Childbirth-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Dr Alysha-leigh Fameli)  
• Co-designed interventions for fathers (Assoc. Prof. Esther Adama)  
• Social media use during the transition to parenthood (Assoc. Prof. Dani Wagstaff)  
• Clinician identity development and clinical supervision in perinatal mental health (Jess Neale)  
• Predictors of breastfeeding enjoyment and satisfaction (Dr Alex Poll)  
• AI Supported Mental Health Apps and Learning Tools for Students (Dr Anju Sreeram, Shelley Macmillan)  
• Improving access to infant mental health literacy (Jennifer O’Meara)  
• Nature pedagogy & family mental health (Kylie Nice, Assoc. Prof. Barbara Chancellor)  
• Practice informed academic work (Leola Moore-Coulson)  

2026

Aran, P., Lewis, A. J., Watson, S., Werner, E., & Galbally, M. (2026). Clinical Assessment of the Parent–Infant Relationship: A Global Survey of Clinician Attitudes and Practice. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 1-14. 

Wynter, K., Lewis, A. J., Ball, H. L., Power, J., & Galbally, M. (2026). Perceived Safety in Childbirth: Pregnancy Predictors of Women's Experiences During Childbirth. Birth. 

2025

Adama, E., Adua, E., Mörelius, E., Chang, A., Srinivasjois, R., & Bayes, S. (2025). Australian fathers’ experiences of caring for their preterm infants. Infant Mental Health Journal, 46(3), 298-316. 

Dantaz, J., Adama, E., & Morelius, E. (2025). The consequences of in utero cannabis exposure within the neonatal period: A scoping review of literature. Journal of Children and Young People's Health, 6(1), 5-21. 

Galbally, M., Watson, S. J., Newnham, J., White, S., Watkins, A., & Lewis, A. J. (2025). The Relationship Between Early Term Birth and the Risk of Later Childhood Mental Disorders Within a Pregnancy Cohort. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 56(5), 1389-1401. 

Lewis, A. J., Van Zanden, B., & Galbally, M. (2025). Fetal exposures and maternal mental disorders in pregnancy: a network analysis. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 16, e27. 

Perrykkad, K., Nicholls, I., Lewis, A.J., Boyce, P., Wynter, K., Bobevski, I., & Galbally, M. (2025). Screening for perinatal depression in Australia: Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale in pregnancy and the postpartum. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 59(11), 979-988. 

2024 

Bulndi, L. B., Bayes, S., Ireson, D., & Adama, E. (2024). Using interpretive description to facilitate women's contributions to maternity care: experiences and views of obstetric fistula prevention. African Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, 18(3), 1-10. 

MacMillan, K. K., Bourke, D., Watson, S. J., Lewis, A. J., Teti, D. M., Ball, H. L., & Galbally, M. (2024). Infant sleep and anxiety disorders in early childhood: Findings from an Australian pregnancy cohort study. Infant and Child Development, 33(4), e2501. 

Power, J., Watson, S., Chen, W., Lewis, A. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Galbally, M. (2024). Maternal emotional availability and perinatal depressive symptoms as predictors of early childhood executive function. Journal of affective disorders, 365, 332-340. 

Wagstaff, D., Wolf, N., & Smith, N. (2024). Comparing, competing, and the good mum ideology—Maternal well-being in the context of social media. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences. 

2023

Anolak, H., Lau, F., Davis, D., Browne, J., & Watt, B. (2023). Creative arts intervention in support of women experiencing a high-risk pregnancy: A qualitative descriptive thematic analysis. Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, 36, 100830. 

Bulndi, L. B., Bayes, S., Adama, E., & Ireson, D. (2023). North-central Nigerian women’s experiences of obstetric Fistula risk factors and their perceived treatment services: an interpretive description. Women and Birth, 36(5), 454-459. 

Fameli, A. L., Costa, D. S., Coddington, R., & Hawes, D. J. (2023). Assessment of childbirth-related post traumatic stress disorder in Australian mothers: Psychometric properties of the City Birth Trauma Scale. Journal of Affective Disorders, 324, 559-565. 

Galbally, M., Watson, S. J., Coleman, M., Worley, P., Verrier, L., Padmanabhan, V., & Lewis, A. J. (2023). Rurality as a predictor of perinatal mental health and well‐being in an Australian cohort. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 31(2), 182-195. 

Galbally, M., Watson, S., Lewis, A. J., Power, J., Buus, N., & van IJzendoorn, M. (2023). Maternal attachment state of mind and perinatal emotional wellbeing: Findings from a pregnancy cohort study. Journal of affective disorders, 333, 297-304. 

Galbally, M., Watson, S. J., Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Tharner, A., Luijk, M., De Kloet, E. R., ... & Lewis, A. J. (2023). Prenatal predictors of childhood anxiety disorders: An exploratory study of the role of attachment organization. Development and psychopathology, 35(3), 1296-1307. 

Low, Y. Y., Lewis, A. J., & Serfaty, I. G. (2023). Effects of a structured reflective interview on parental reflective functioning: A pilot randomised controlled trial. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(2), 516-529. 

Power, J., Watson, S., Chen, W., Lewis, A., Van Ijzendoorn, M., & Galbally, M. (2023). The trajectory of maternal perinatal depressive symptoms predicts executive function in early childhood. Psychological medicine, 53(16), 7953-7963. 

Williamson, T., Wagstaff, D. L., Goodwin, J., & Smith, N. (2023). Mothering ideology: A qualitative exploration of mothers’ perceptions of navigating motherhood pressures and partner relationships. Sex roles, 88(1), 101-117.