A clinical home for the presentations you can't place.
Perinatal men's mental health. Paternal PND. Father disengagement. Couple strain post-birth. These are presentations you identify and currently have few pathways for. This page holds all three things you might need: how to refer, free resources for your own practice, and how to bring this work to your team. No referral letter required. Warm handover available.
You already see the gap. This is the pathway.
Every MCHN knows the families where the father is on the edge of the frame — present at the appointment but disengaged, or absent altogether. The current system gives you nowhere specific to send him. These resources change that.
of new fathers experience postnatal depression — and unlike mothers, they are almost never screened for it. The MCH check is often the only professional contact a new father has.
of the variance in a mother's wellbeing is explained by early paternal positive affect (Shapiro, Gottman & Carrère, 2000). Supporting the father is supporting the whole family.
Australia's first council-funded father-specific early intervention program (RAD DADS) was built here in the Macedon Ranges. This is a local resource, not a referral interstate.
When to refer — and what to say.
Maternal & Child Health
General Practice
Midwives & Obstetric
A tiered pathway — low barrier through to clinical.
You decide how far a family needs to go. The pathway is built so the lowest-barrier option — a free community program or a baby massage class — catches most fathers before clinical intervention is needed.
Brain Builders Psychoeducation
A 5-minute psychoeducation resource for use at MCH checks. Practitioner resource card and consultation script. Available as a print-ready PDF. Suitable for all new and expectant dads.
Brain Builders →Baby Massage for Dads
4-week in-person program, Kyneton. 4–6 dads, low cost. The most accessible, non-clinical intervention for early Invisible Start indicators. A dad who won't come to counselling will come to a baby massage class.
Baby Massage →Clinical Services
Individual perinatal men's therapy. Couples counselling, parenthood transition. Bringing Baby Home — free perinatal couples program, next round to be announced. No referral letter required for any clinical service.
Email Gabriel →Tools you can use at the next check.
Practical, evidence-based, and designed for the real conditions of a maternal and child health consultation. Request the kit with the form at the bottom of this page and we will send the current versions by email — free for any MCH or community health team, no cost and no catch.
Brain Builders Card
A laminated, parent-facing card explaining serve-and-return, cortisol regulation, and why a father's engagement is the developmental variable. Hand it to a dad in five minutes.
Request the card →The 5-Minute Conversation
A simple script for raising father engagement at the 4-week or 4-month check — non-judgemental, evidence-anchored, and designed to open a door rather than create defensiveness.
Request the script →When & How to Refer
A one-page reference: the specific indicators that warrant a referral, the three tiers of support available, and exactly how to refer. No referral letter required.
Request the guide →The Invisible Start Explainer
A warm, plain-language handout for parents that names the Invisible Start and normalises seeking support. Useful for both partners — and often the thing that gets a father to make contact.
Request the handout →Bring this work to your team.
Gabriel works with MCH teams, councils, community health services, and early years networks to build father-inclusive practice into existing services — through training, co-designed programs, and ongoing referral partnership.
One form, under two minutes.
One form for all three: refer a client, request the free resource kit, or ask about CPD training and partnership. No letter required. For a referral, Gabriel will contact your client within one business day. For urgent or complex presentations, call directly.
Ready to take
the next step?
Let's talk.
A free 20-minute phone call — no forms, no obligation.