VICDOC Autumn 2025 - Magazine - Page 10
Dr Gillian Opie (MBBS, IBCLC,
FRACP) is a neonatal paediatrician.
She was the Mercy Hospital for
Women’s first female paediatrician
when she joined in 1999, and one of
the first neonatologists in Australia to
hold an International Board Certified
Lactation Consultant qualification.
From 2015-2023 she was deputy
director of its Department of Newborn
Services, and in 2011 founded Victoria’s
first and only breastmilk bank, the
Mercy Health Breastmilk Bank. Since
opening, it has provided more than
4,000 litres of breastmilk to hundreds
of recipients and expanded to include
satellite sites at Monash Children’s
Hospital, the Royal Children’s Hospital
and the Royal Women’s Hospital. Now
semi-retired, Gillian balances time at
home with consulting and locum work.
started there. Nobody in my family had
done medicine, but I was keen on it. I also
remember being very inspired by Professor
Priscilla Kincaid-Smith.
Q2 / IT’S NOT EVERY DAY YOU GET
A TUNNEL BORING MACHINE NAMED
AFTER YOU. TELL US ABOUT THAT!
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I was absolutely blown away when I was
approached about it, and to this day I have no
idea who nominated me. Apparently, there
was a process where people were invited to
submit suggestions for women’s names.
I’ve learned a lot about tunnel boring
machines since, and the history of naming
them after women comes from the shipping
industry; there’s a tradition that all big
machines must have a women’s names.
It’s quite incredible and a real honour to be
thought of as a local living legend in this way.
Q3 / WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BENEFITS
Q1 / WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO
PURSUE MEDICINE?
OF HAVING A BREASTMILK BANK FOR
A POPULATION?
When my younger sister was 11
months of age, she was very unwell with
meningoencephalitis. I’m six years older
than her, so it’s quite a vivid memory.
At the time there were no paediatricians in
Geelong, where we lived. She was admitted
to the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital
in Melbourne. It had Florence Nightingale
wards back then; it was one big, long ward
with rows of cots along the walls, and a
central corridor. I was not allowed in to visit,
so every day for two weeks I sat on a bench
outside the door while my mum would go in
and hold my sister up – two thirds of the way
down on the left – so I would know that she
was still around. My interest in paediatrics
Today, the public health advantage of
breastfeeding is unquestioned. The infants
in our neonatal nurseries are quite vulnerable
because they’re extremely premature or very
sick. This can be very overwhelming and
anxiety-inducing for their mothers, which
can affect their capacity to lactate sufficiently.
Then there are very unwell women whose
babies are born prematurely, and their
lactation can be delayed. By being able to
provide pasteurised donor breastmilk for
the most vulnerable babies, we reduce their
risk of getting significant illnesses in the
newborn period. And hopefully this bridging
breastmilk gives those mothers some time
to go on and provide sufficient breastmilk
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