Expressions of Interest are now open for the Mercy Perinatal Lived Experience Registry.
The Mercy Perinatal Lived Experience (MAPLE) Steering Group and Registry are comprised of researchers, clinicians and consumers with lived experience of planning, current or previous, pregnancy.
The MAPLE Steering Group is responsible for coordinating, directing and developing the consumers role in Mercy Perinatal’s research, care and education agenda. The MAPLE Registry provides key insights into research and patient communications through opt-in surveys and focus groups, among other duties.
Alexandra Tighe (Alex) is a Partner of large national law firm, Clayton Utz where she specialises in commercial litigation and public inquiries. Alex also sits on the Board of the Peter MacCallum C ancer Centre, and Chairs the Consumer Advisory Committee.
Alex is a grateful past patient of Mercy Perinatal and has lived experience of recurrent pregnancy loss and stillbirth. Since experiencing her own devastating loss, Alex has been determined to find ways to support other families and to prevent others from experiencing similar outcomes. Alex spent six years on the Mercy Health Foundation Board where she supported fundraising initiatives to help bring mothers and babies safely home and founded the 'Silver Wattle Gala Ball'. Alex is passionate about research into prevention of stillbirth and supporting Mercy Perinatal to find the answers to bring mothers and babies safely home.
Sue is a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist with a passion to improve the health of pregnant women, their children and the people and systems that educate, innovate, discover and care for them. She is a passionate people leader, as Co-Director of Mercy Perinatal and in her experience as Clinical Director until 2024.
Roxanne is an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne and an NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow. As Research Manager Roxanne is passionate about consumer advocacy to shape and guide research pathways. Roxanne’s core research themes include investigating the effects of commonly used medications on maternal and offspring outcomes and driving research to improve maternal health in low resource settings.
Alex Crocker has dedicated her career to supporting vulnerable communities, beginning with six years in Youth Justice and now working in the family violence sector, supporting women and children. Outside of her professional role, Alex is a passionate Pilates instructor, committed to helping women feel strong and empowered in their bodies.
After the stillbirth of her first longed-for child at 37 weeks, Alex has focused on raising awareness around pregnancy and infant loss, offering compassion and support to other families navigating similar grief. Her personal journey, including two pregnancies under the care of Mercy Perinatal, continues to shape her commitment to supporting others, both through her work and within the broader community.
Maria Crocker is a mother of four with personal experience navigating the perinatal journey. Having gone through six pregnancies, multiple rounds of IVF, and natural pregnancies in her 40s, she understands the physical, emotional, and medical challenges women can face during this time. Her experiences motivate her to work towards better health outcomes for mothers and babies.
Professionally, Maria has built a career in dispute resolution and consumer advocacy. Her expertise in navigating complex systems, effective communication, and stakeholder engagement positions her as a valuable contributor to initiatives aimed at integrating consumer voices into healthcare research and care strategies.
Ahlia Griffiths is a key advocate for ensuring the voice of Lived Experience is championed at state, national and international levels. Ahlia currently sits on the Queensland Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council, is the consumer co-chair for LEAPP, as well as providing feedback to both PSANZ and RANZCOG. Ahlia has had the privilege of co-authoring and leading bodies of work stemming from the perspective of lived experience. Ahlia endeavours to ensure end user perspectives are heard through all aspects of health research, policy, strategy and review. Ahlia has been involved as a consumer lead on multiple research projects.
Most importantly Ahlia is a mother of 3 beautiful children, who hopes that her sharing and work can shape a better and fairer future for them.
Elsa is a mother of three, including her daughter Wanda, who was stillborn in 2015. She has lived experience of perinatal loss, complex medical care, and her son Ennis’ childhood cancer treatment. Having grown up in the country and now raising her family in regional Victoria, Elsa understands firsthand the barriers families face when distance and limited services make accessing specialist care more difficult. With a professional background in mental health and a particular interest in trauma, she draws on both personal and professional experience to advocate for change. Elsa is passionate about using her experiences to help make healthcare more compassionate, accessible, and ultimately safer for parents and babies.
Sophie is a pharmacist consultant with over 15 years’ experience working in community and hospital settings. She currently works with electronic medical records for the Parkville Precinct. Sophie’s areas of expertise are clinical decision support systems and quality improvement.
Since losing baby Oliver at 38 weeks gestation in 2024, Sophie is using her professional, lived experience and culturally and linguistically diverse background lenses to advocate for improved health information standards and consumer-centred care.
Sophie is a member of the Consumer Advisory Committee and Clinical Care Council at Mercy Health, as well as Consumers Health Forum of Australia - Digital Health Project, Measuring What Matters to Australian Mothers, and Kali Healthcare.