Erika Van de Dries is very happy to be one of the Western Obstetrics team in our Port Kennedy Clinic. Erika holds dual roles as one of our Clinical Administrators and also as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). After a nearly thirty year background as a Registered Nurse with experience in Rural, Community and Child Health Nurse positions and having previously completed the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) voluntary breastfeeding counsellor training in 2008, Erika was mentored by our own Dr Sharon Perrella IBCLC to become a Lactation Consultant in 2012. Working in private practice and as a Research Assistant with The Geddes Hartmann Human Lactation Research Group from the University of Western Australia further solidified her lactation knowledge and counselling experience which she is excited and privileged to share with families in a collaborative and caring manner. Her combined administrative and clinical backgrounds prove to be very beneficial to the Western Obstetrics team and Erika enjoys nurturing confidence in new mothers together with a supportive multidisciplinary team.

Erika and her husband Paul, together with their three children, two dogs, a cat and a multitude of chickens have embraced a ‘tree change by the sea’ on their little farm in Lake Clifton, where they love to listen to the birds sing and watch the kangaroos that visit their front garden