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Associate Professor Shelley Wilkinson
PhD, BSc (Hons)(Psyc), Grad Dip Nut & Diet, AdvAPD. FDA.

Director and Founder

Dr. Shelley has been a dietitian since 1995, including 12 years at the Mater Mothers’ Hospitals in Brisbane. She also has a PhD in psychology and is a mum who went through several cycles of IVF herself. She knows how much can be riding on this time, and that understanding shapes the way she works with every client.

Tailoring knowledge from

Scientific research to individual situations

Dr. Shelley draws on the latest evidence to build advice around your health, preferences and routines, not a one-size-fits-all plan. She supports women to:

  • Prepare for conception: personalised nutrition and lifestyle guidance to support fertility.
  • Nourish their pregnancy: practical advice on eating well and staying active.
  • Adjust to life with a new baby: realistic support through the postnatal period.

Her combination of dietetics and psychology means the focus isn’t only on what to do, but on how to make changes that fit your life and last.

Book a telehealth appointment with Dr. Shelley at Lifestyle Maternity today.

Other roles Dr Shelley holds include as a service development and redesign expert in the Mater Mothers’ Department of Obstetric Medicine and as an Associate Professor in the UQ School of Pharmacy as a Senior Principal Research Fellow on the RECARD project.

To learn more about Shelley’s work as a clinician-researcher click here.

Connect with Shelley on LinkedIn

Best of both worlds

Blending dietetics and psychology

ANZAED dietitian badgeShelley is a Dietitian with a PhD in Health Psychology.

Her research was part of a community-based healthy pregnancy project, with the focus of her project investigating better ways to support women to achieve a healthier pregnancy through better nutrition and physical activity.

She has carried that work into Lifestyle Maternity, where she designs and runs programs that combine nutrition with support for behaviour change.

She has also completed Dr Rick Kausman’s “if not dieting” training and draws on these approaches in her counselling sessions.

Credentials that count:

  • Fellow of Dietitians Australia (FDA)
  • Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian (AdvAPD)
  • Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician (ANZAED)
  • Member of the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ)
  • Member of the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS)
  • Member of the Australasian Menopause Society (AMS)
  • Member of Dietitians Australia

B.HealthSci (Nut&Diet)(Hons1), BA (SportsStudies), APD.

Elin Donaldson

Experience from the hospital and from her own pregnancies

Elin has spent more than a decade as the Senior Maternity Dietitian at the Mater Mothers’ Hospitals in Brisbane. Her work covers the full span of pregnancy care, from preconception planning and IVF support through to the postpartum period, with a particular interest in gestational diabetes.

She has also been through IVF and gestational diabetes herself, so she understands both the clinical side and what it feels like to live with it day to day.

A flexible approach, not rigid rules

Elin doesn’t believe in restrictive diets. She works with you to find ways of eating that are sustainable, enjoyable and right for you and your growing family. Her approach draws on the latest research and on Dr Rick Kausman’s “if not dieting” philosophy, with the aim of making changes that feel manageable rather than like a chore.

Elin isn’t taking new clients until mid 2027. In the meantime, you can book a telehealth appointment with Shelley.

Credentials that count:

  • Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD)
  • Member of Dietitians Australia

BOOK A TELEHEALTH APPOINTMENT WITH A DIETITIAN