Heidi Webster

Background

About Heidi Webster

MBBS, FRACP, MPHI was educated at the University of Queensland, and completed my FRACP with the Community Child Health SAC to become a Community Paediatrician in 2003. My work and research interests have focussed around maternal mental health and psychosocial stress and their impacts on infant health, sleep, settling and irritability issues, and child development, wellbeing and safety. Recent research and education has focussed on FASD assessment and diagnosis: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, particularly in the younger age group of children under 7 years.I commenced working in Private Practice in the Child Development Network in Brisbane in 2003, in diagnosis and management of childhood autism spectrum disorders and the many childhood learning, behaviour and mental health conditions managed in Community Paediatric practice. I have enjoyed interfacing with Education professionals in a number of models of practice involving case-conferencing and/ or school visits, in order to best understand children’s predicaments and provide holistic care within their children’s environments.I moved to a part-time newly created Community Paediatrician position at Nambour Hospital on the Sunshine coast in 2009, and moved my Private Child Development practice to Buderim in 2010.I have played a major role in the establishment of a community-based Specialist Child Development Service for Queensland Health in the Sunshine Coast region, in partnership with Wishlist, the Sunshine Coast HSS, prominent community charity (Mix FM's Give me Five for Kids) and corporate fundraising groups. I have set up the Sunshine Coast CDS FASD assessment clinic, and partnered with University of Sunshine Coast and Griffith University in FASD Research to expand assessment and diagnostic services.Recently I have opened a new private paediatric specialist Developmental and Behavioural consulting practice, with two colleagues Dr Rachel Noovao and Dr Megan Watson.I am passionate about Child Development in the context of a child centred focus, within the influence of family and broader environments, and in particular, early identification of childhood developmental disorders, enabling accessing of meaningful early intervention, parental understanding and capacity building, and maximising children’s potential and quality of life in all their environments.