The LEAPP Guidelines Group is made up of 24 member organisations.
Together, we produce continually updated, evidence-based clinical guidelines for healthcare professionals working in pregnancy and postnatal care.
The Australian Living Evidence Collaboration leads the group in partnership with the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG).
Our work began in July 2023, and over the next five years we’ll be working together to update the current Pregnancy Guidelines and develop new Postnatal Guidelines – informed by the latest evidence from around the globe.
We have different panels, groups and committees that work on research and guideline development, review and approval. You can find details about the roles and membership of each group below.
Our approach and the language we use aims to be inclusive and accessible to everyone. We’re committed to listening to and reflecting the voices of women and transgender, non-binary and gender diverse communities. Many of our member organisations are currently exploring ways we can adopt language that’s inclusive, clinically accurate, non-discriminatory and sensitive to all. This is a work in progress that we’re following closely.
In the meantime, when working with individuals or telling their stories, we use their preferred pronouns and appropriate gendered language. In all other places, we use current terminology (for example, pregnant women, mothers and the maternal healthcare system) but apply our gender-inclusive principles.
At all times, we understand that there are multiple ways people identify themselves when using commonly referenced clinical or cultural linguistic conventions we do so knowing that some people in our community do not relate to these terms and we respect and accept this unconditionally.
LEAPP Guidelines Group organisation and governance
The LEAPP Guidelines group brings together peak health organisations from across Australia that provide pregnancy and/or postnatal care. Membership is open to organisations that represent healthcare professionals and people with lived experience.
Member organisations:
Partner organisations:
Funder:
The LEAPP guidelines are overseen by our national Steering Committee, which is made up of representatives from each of our member organisations.
The Steering Committee is governed by a consensus based decision-making process where all recommendations receive 100% consensus endorsement from all member organisations before publication.
Put simply, all our guideline recommendations must be approved by all of our member organisations.
Steering Committee members:
Tari Turner (Chair)
Ajit Kumar, RANZCP
Alecia Staines, Maternity Consumer Network
Alicia Dennis, Australian Society of Anaesthetists
Amrit Dhillon, Red Nose
Amy Dawes, Birth Trauma Australia
Ann Hindell, MCaFHNA
Barbara Monk, ACNN
Brendan Carrigan, ACRRM
Christine Andrews, Stillbirth CRE
Cindy Farquhar, RANZCOG
Jessica Botfield, ACN
Jessica Michaels, ASHM
Julianne Badenoch, APNA
Karen Edwards, Gidget Foundation
Marie Linden, FARE
Nicole Highet, COPE
Rekha Pai Mangalore, ASID
Renee Eslick, THANZ
Scott Mills, Social Policy Group
Suzie Neylon, ADIPS
Victoria Marshall-Cerins, Australian Breastfeeding Association
Zoe Bradfield, ACM
The national Guideline Leadership Group (GLG) reviews all new and revised recommendations drafted by the Pregnancy Panel and Postnatal Panel.
GLG also prioritises new topics for evidence review and provides advice to the Steering Committee on emerging clinical and research issues that are relevant to the guidelines.
GLG members:
Caroline Homer (Co-chair)
Stefan Kane (Co-chair)
Nisha Khot (Deputy Co-chair)
Alison Teate (Deputy Co-chair)
Amanda Henry
Angela Brown
Ania Samarawickrama
Antonia Shand
Arianne Sweeting
Bree Spring
Brendan McMullan
Briony Cutts
Catriona Melville
Emma Howard
Erin Seeto
Fi Faulks
Habiba Ahmed
Ishita Akhter
Jennifer Hocking
Josh Vogel
Kara Thompson
Keshia Arbour
Kristy Watson
Lisa Vincze
Marie Linden
Marnie Poiner
Megan Cooper
Nicole Highett
Nicole Sheridan
Primrose White
Sally McKenzie
Smruthy Nair
Susie de Jersey
Sylvia Lim-Gibson
Tanya Nippita
The LEAPP Pregnancy Panel is made of up multidisciplinary clinicians and researchers from around Australia.
Their focus is on:
Panel recommendations are reviewed by the Guideline Leadership Group and require 100% consensus endorsement from the LEAPP Steering Committee before being published for public consultation and NHMRC approval.
Pregnancy Panel members:
Alison Teate (Co-chair)
Nisha Khot (Co-chair)
Alex Owens
Cheryce Harrison
Chieh Cheng
Courtney Lawson
Habiba Ahmed
Heather Mattner
Helen Nightingale
Ishita Akhter
Jacqueline Matyear
Jessica Goldstone-Smith
Joelene Murdoch
Lauren Downie
Madeleine Hawke
Naomi Whyler
Shelley Ford
Suet-Wan Choy
Tija Blums
The LEAPP Postnatal Panel is made of up multidisciplinary clinicians and researchers from around Australia.
Their focus is on:
Panel recommendations are reviewed by the Guideline Leadership Group and require 100% consensus endorsement from the LEAPP Steering Committee before being published for public consultation and NHMRC approval.
Postnatal Panel members:
Alison Teate (Co-chair)
Nisha Khot (Co-chair)
Alex Owens
Alysha Fameli
Antoinette Amor
Chloe Harris
Chloe Westwood
Emily Leefhelm
Jennifer Green
Kassie Daw
Keshia Arbour
Leanne Muir
Lucy Frankham
Pilar Martin
Rikki Priest
Siaw Hui Wong
Sheree White
Smruthy Nair
Suzanne Higgins
Their focus is on:
The Lived Experience Panel reviews our draft recommendations before any other Panels. Our four Co-Chairs and Deputy Co-Chairs are also members of the Pregnancy Panel, Postnatal Panel and Guideline Leadership Group, to ensure a strong ‘patient voice’ throughout. The Steering Group includes an organisational consumer member, Maternity Consumer Network.
Our Lived Experience Panel members are:
View the LEAPP Lived Experience Panel Terms of Reference.
Find out more about the LEAPP Lived Experience Panel and their impact on the Australian Pregnancy & Postnatal Care Guidelines here.
If you would like to be notified about future opportunities to join the LEAPP Lived Experience Panel, please leave your details in the form below:
The LEAPP Policy Liaison Group considers the guidelines in the context of public policy, and facilitates implementation of the recommendations.
The group provides advice to the Steering Committee on emerging issues relating to:
The Policy Liaison Group is supported by our policy methods chair, Dr Samantha Chakraborty.
Policy Liaison Group responsibilities include contributing to online discussions and meetings, identifying current and upcoming policy initiatives related to LEAPP, and providing strategic policy advice – including nominating clinical questions and high priority topics to be addressed.
Everyone involved in LEAPP is required to submit a Declaration of Interest (DOI) form and outline any perceived, potential or actual conflicts of interest that may arise and/or impact on their decision-making.
As appropriate, the conflict may be managed by restriction of the involvement in relevant discussion or decision-making (with conflict noted in any relevant minutes/notes) or removal from participation in the ‘conflicted’ matter.
At the start of each team/committee/group/panel meeting the chairperson asks if any person present has an interest (i.e. a private interest or a duty to another organisation) in respect to any items on the agenda for discussion. Where determined appropriate by the chairperson, the individual will be asked to leave the meeting and not participate in discussion of any ‘conflicted’ matters. More information can be found in our COI Procedure.
The LEAPP Conflicts of Interest Committee (COIC) has four members with experience in the assessment and management of conflicts of interest. They are appointed by the Executive Team, but their deliberations and advice are independent of the LEAPP Guidelines group.
Members:
The Expert Advisory Group includes:
Expert Advisory Group members provide advice directly to the Evidence Review Team, to guide the work of the Evidence Review Team and Panels.
We are currently in the process of appointing members to this group, and will include more information about members and topics under consideration in the months ahead.
The LEAPP Expert Advisory Group members are:
Briony Hill
Hayley See
Jade Bilardi
Jane Fisher
Kavita Thanakrishnan
Kirsten Black
Mariam Hassan
Meaghan O’Donnell
Naba Masad Alfayadh
Sasha Banjavcic-Booker
Tracy Firth
Jordan Dixon
The LEAPP Evidence and Executive Teams are based at the Australian Living Evidence Collaboration (ALEC) within the Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (SPHPM).
Executive & Project Teams
The Executive and Project Teams provide strategic direction to and operational oversight of the day-to-day activities of the Pregnancy and Postnatal Care Living Guidelines group.
ALEC Executive:
ALEC Project Team:
LEAPP Evidence Team:
The LEAPP Evidence Team is made up of experts who are experienced in defining questions for systematic review, literature searching, critical appraisal of clinical evidence from a range of study designs according to Cochrane/GRADE methods, and NHMRC methods and processes for clinical practice guideline development.
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