Senior Research Fellow

Heather Rowe is a health scientist with backgrounds in the biological and psychological sciences and expertise in health promotion in the perinatal period. Her program of research positions women's mental health in its social, economic, cultural and political contexts and recognises gender disadvantage as a key determinant. She conducts clinical and community-based trials of existing and innovative interventions. Outcomes of her work include development, evaluation, knowledge exchange and implementation of evidence-based mental health promotion programs. She has supervised more than twenty undergraduate and postgraduate student research projects to completion, serves on editorial boards and is a regular reviewer for international peer-reviewed journals. She is President of the Australian Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

2012 Publications

Rowe H, Holton S, Fisher J. Postpartum emotional support: a qualitative study of women's and men's anticipated needs and preferred sources, Australian Journal of Primary Health 1 Feb 2012 [EPub], doi:10.1071/PY11117

Cooklin A, Rowe H, Fisher J. Public health implications of paid parental leave: evidence from a prospective investigation of maternal postpartum employment. Australian and new Zealand Journal of Public Health (In press August 2011)

2011 Publications

Holton S, Fisher J, Rowe H. To Have or Not to Have? Australian Women's Childbearing Desires, Expectations and Outcomes. Journal of Population Research, 2011; 28(4), 353-379

Fisher J, Rowe H. Soothing the unsettled baby. Medical Observer, 2011; October: 3512

Holton S, Rowe HJ, Fisher JRW. Women's health and their childbearing expectations and outcomes: a population-based survey from Victoria, Australia. Women's Health Issues 2011; 21:5, 366-373

Fisher J, Feekery C, Rowe HJ. Psycho-educational early parenting interventions to promote infant mental health. In: Fitzgerald H, editor. International Perspectives on Child Psychology and Mental Health. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO Inc; in press.

Hammarberg K, Fisher JRW, Wynter KH, Rowe HJ. Breastfeeding after assisted conception: A prospective cohort study. Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica 2011: 100: 529-533. DOI:10.1111/j.1651-2227.2010.02095.x.

Fisher J, Rowe H, Hiscock H, Jordan B, Bayer J, Colahan A, Amery V. Understanding and Responding to Unsettled Infant Behaviour: A Discussion Paper for the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) (in press, 31 March 2011).

Seng J, Sperlich M, Rowe H, Cameron H, Harris A, McCracken A, Rauch S, Bell S. The Survivor Moms’ Companion:  Safety, feasibility, and acceptability of a posttraumatic stress-specific psychoeducation program for pregnant survivors of childhood maltreatment and sexual trauma. International Journal of Childbirth (in press, 11 March 2011).

Seng J, Sperlich M, Rowe H, Cameron H, Harris A, McCracken A, Rauch S, Bell S. The Survivor Moms’ Companion:  Open pilot of a posttraumatic stress specific psychoeducation program for pregnant survivors of childhood maltreatment and sexual trauma. International Journal of Childbirth (in press, 11 March 2011).

Holton S, Rowe HJ, Fisher JRW. Women's health and their childbearing expectations and outcomes: a population-based survey from Victoria, Australia. Women’s Health Issues (in press February 2011).

Kirkman M, Rowe H, Hardiman A, Rosenthal D. Abortion is a difficult solution to a problem: A discursive analysis of interviews with women considering or undergoing abortion in Australia. Women’s Studies International Forum 2011; 34 (2): 121-129.

Fisher J, Rowe H, Hammarberg K. Admission of women for psychological or psychiatric causes with their infants in Victoria, Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2011: 35(2): 146-150.

Wynter K, Rowe H, Steele A, Fisher J, Quinlivan J. Are adolescents' decisions about prenatal screening for Down syndrome informed? A controlled, prospective study. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology 2011; 24 (1): 29-34.

McCallum SM, Rowe HJ, Gurrin L, Quinlivan J, Rosenthal D, Fisher JRW. Unsettled infant behaviour and health service use: a cross-sectional community survey in Melbourne, Australia. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2011; doi:10.111/j.1440-1754.2011.02032.x

2010 Publications

Fisher JRW, Wynter K, Rowe HJ. Innovative psycho-educational program to prevent common postpartum mental disorders in primiparous women: a before and after controlled study. BMC Public Health 2010, 10: 432

Rowe HJ, Fisher JRW. Development of a universal psycho-educational intervention to prevent common postpartum mental disorders in primiparous mothers: a multiple method approach. BMC Public Health 2010, 10: 499

Rowe HJ, Fisher J. The contribution of Australian residential early parenting centers to comprehensive mental health care for mothers of infants: evidence from a prospective study. International Journal of Mental Health Systems 2010, 4:6. www.ijmhs.com/content/4/1/6

Kirkman M, Rowe H, Rosenthal D, Mallett S, Hardiman A. Reasons women give for contemplating or undergoing abortion: A qualitative investigation in Victoria, Australia. Sexual Reproductive Healthcare 2010; 1 (4): 149-155.

Holton S, Fisher JRW, Rowe HJ Motherhood: is it good for women's mental health. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 2010, 28(3): 223-239.

Rowe HJ Book Review. Edelman CL and Mandle CL (Eds) Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span. Seventh Edition. Mosby Elsevier: St Louis MI; 2010. Health Promotion Journal of Australia. 2010;21(3): 245.

Leinweber J, Rowe HJ. The costs of ‘being with the woman’: secondary traumatic stress in midwifery. Midwifery 2010; 26(1):76-87. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2008.04.003.

Content updated 24 February 2012