About
Dawn Whitten
ND, BNat(Hons), IBCLC, FNHAA
Perinatal and Early Life Health Lead
Dawn has worked in the area functional and naturopathic medicine in perinatal and early life health for over twenty years. She is a clinician, researcher, educator and clinical mentor in this area. She is trained as a Naturopath and a Lactation Consultant bringing together these two fields.
Dawn’s work in this area includes peer reviewed publications and textbook contributions. She authored the Breastfeeding chapter in the seminal text Advanced Clinical Naturopathic Medicine (2020) and co-wrote the Infancy Chapter in this same text. She has taught in academic institutions since 2004 and co-created the Post Graduate Evidence-Based Natural Medicine program at the University of Tasmania.
View publications
Passionate about teaching, Dawn regularly presents at both international conferences and national events for health professionals.
She was invited to contribute five modules to the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM) functional medicine training programs in 2022-23. The topics she presented included: The Preconception Microbiome, The Infant Microbiome, Pregnancy Nutrition, Prevention of Allergy and Treatment of Paediatric Eczema. Other areas she has presented on include: Colic, Reflux and Blood in Infant Stool, The Breastmilk Microbiome, Mastitis, Low Supply and Introducing Complementary Foods to Infants.
Dawn has continued to be in busy clinical practice throughout this time which enriches and informs her academic endeavours. She has been part of Goulds Natural Medicine in Hobart Tasmania since 2006 and coordinated the Goulds internship program, and mentored practitioners as part of her role there.
Dawn has worked closely with Dr Jason Hawrelak for over twenty years and is experienced in working within Dr. Hawrelak’s paradigm of care and possesses intimate knowledge of his treatment approach. Dawn brings these perspectives to the perinatal and early life space and has a deep understanding of working restoratively in this area, this being her life work.
Dawn looks forward to sharing and facilitating practitioners engagement in this area.
In her work with infants, Dawn is passionate about working gently and safely and where possible works with a restorative approach through the mother.
Dawn also has extensive experience working in the area of thyroid health, gastrointestinal health, female reproductory health, and with infant and toddler gastrointestinal issues and allergy. She has many years’ experience in microbiome manipulation for health optimisation.
After completing her Bachelor degree in 2002, Dawn went on to obtain First Class Honours for the clinical research she undertook in the area of Herb-Drug interactions. Her work published in this area is commonly cited in the literature. Dawn was awarded a prestigious Fellowship by the National Herbalist Association of Australia for her contribution to the field of herbal medicine in Australia.
In her work with infants, she is passionate about working gently and safely and where possible works with a restorative approach through the mother focusing on nutritional repletion, microbiome manipulation, and herbal medicine supports. She sees the health of the infant and parents as intrinsically related.
Dawn is blessed to have three daughters spanning 10yrs to 30yrs. She fortunate in that one of her mothers was a home birth midwife and has been around pregnancy, birth and babies her whole life.
Publications
Whitten D, Chapter 14 Breastfeeding, Advanced Clinical Naturopathic
Medicine, Ed Leah Hechtmann, Elsevier Sydney, 2020.
McIntosh T, Whitten D, Padarin H. Chapter 15 Infancy, Advanced Clinical Naturopathic Medicine, Leah Hechtmann (ed). Elsevier Sydney, 2020.
Hawrelak J, Wohlmuth H, Pattison M, Myers S, Goldenburg J, Harnett J, Cooley K, Van De Venter C, Reid R. and Whitten D. Western herbal medicines in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2020;48
Whitten D. and Hawrelak J. Are maternally administered probiotic strains transferred to breastmilk: a systematic review of Human Studies. Advances in Integrative Medicine, 2019;6,S85.
Whitten D. and Hawrelak J. Are maternally administered probiotic strains transferred to breast milk: A systematic review of human studies. Abstracts from the 19th International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation Conference. Breastfeeding Medicine, 2018;13(7)
Avila C, Whitten D and Evans S. The Safety of St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) in pregnancy and lactation: A systematic review of rodent studies. Phytotherapy Research, 2018;32(8):1488-1500
Walton R, Whitten DL, Hawrelak JA. The efficacy of Hibiscus sabdariffa (rosella) in essential hypertension: A systematic review of clinical trials. Australian Journal of Herbal Medicine. 2016;28(2)48-51.
Whitten, D. A precious opportunity: Supporting women with concerns about their breastmilk supply [online]. Australian Journal of Herbal Medicine, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2013: 112-126. http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=605350526251277;res=IELHEA
Dwyer A, Whitten DL, Hawrelak JA. Herbal medicines, other than St John’s wort, in the treatment of mild-to-moderate depression: A systematic review. Alternative Medicine Review. 2011;16:40-49.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21438645
Whitten DL, Myers SP, Hawrelak JA, Wohlmuth H. The effect of St John’s wort extracts on CYP3A: a systematic review of prospective clinical trials. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2006;62:512-526. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17010103
Hawrelak JA, Whitten DL, Myers SP. Is Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG effective in preventing the onset of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea: a systematic review. Digestion. 2005; 72:51-56.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16113542
Whitten, D and Gooden, JS. Cardiovascular drugs: a guide for naturopaths [online]. Australian Journal of Medical Herbalism, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2002: 40-51, 53-5. http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=408385498870124;res=IELHEA
Selected Academic Presentations
Treating Children with Eczema Australasian College of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine (Online 2022)
Common Breastfeeding Challenges (including functional and nutritional medicine aprouches) Australasian College of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine (Sydney 2022)
Nutrition in Pre-conception and a Healthy pregnancy Australasian College of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine (Sydney 2022)
Herbal Safety and Breastfeeding National Institute of Medical Herbalists Conference, United Kingdom (Online 2022)
The Preconception Microbiome Australasian College of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine (Online 2021)
The Infant Microbiome Australasian College of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine (Online 2021)
Herbal Galactagogues National Institute of Medical Herbalists United Kingdom (Online 2021)
Nourishing the Gut Microbiota of the Caesarian Born Infant National Symposium on Herbal and Naturopathic Medicine (2021 Gold Coast)
Herbal Safety and Breastfeeding Vic Herbalists (Online, 2020)
The Infant Microbiome Australasian College of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine (Sydney, 2019)
Unpacking Infant Colic and GORD Australasian College of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine (Sydney, 2019)
The Breastmilk Microbiome and Glycobiome NHAA11th International Conference (Melbourne, 2019)
Herbal Galactagogues New Zealand Association Medical Herbalists Conference (Christchurch, 2019)
Infantile Colic and GORD Gastrointestinal Masterclass II revised, Health Masters Live (2019)
The Infant Microbiome Microbiome Masterclass, Health Masters Live (2019)
The Fourth Trimester. Pregnancy Masterclass Health Masters Live (Nov 2018)
Blood in the stool of a thriving breastfed infant Australian Naturopathic Summit, (Aug 2018)
Breastmilk Microbiome and Glycobiome MINDD Forum (May 2018)
Breastfeeding 3 Part Short Course for Naturopaths. Health Masters Live (Nov 2017)
https://www.healthmasterslive.com/product/breastfeeding/
The Breastmilk Microbiome and Glycobiome. Health Masters Live (June 2017)
https://www.healthmasterslive.com/product/breast-microbiome-glycobiome/
The Unsoothable Infant – GORD an Unhelpful Diagnosis 10th International Conference on Herbal Medicine (Brisbane, March 2017)
Treating Through the Mother – Prescription Considerations for Young Infants 10th International Conference on Herbal Medicine (Brisbane, March 2017)
Infantile Colic and GORD. Gastrointestinal Masterclass II, Health Masters Live (December 2015)
Breastfeeding: Finding Your Way. Building Better Babies Summit (December 2014) http://buildingbetterbabies.com/
Pacing Solids For Health. Building Better Babies Summit (December 2014) http://buildingbetterbabies.com/
Allergy. Natural Paediatrics Masterclass Series, Health Masters Live (May 2014)
Lactational Mastitis. 8th International Conference on Herbal Medicine (Melbourne, April 2013)
Galactagogues. 7th International Conference on Herbal Medicine (Gold Coast, July 2010)
