Dr Lara Howard

Dr Lara Howard is a Consultant Psychiatrist with subspecialty expertise in perinatal, infant, child and adolescent, and neurodevelopmental psychiatry. A Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (FRANZCP) with Advanced Certification in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, she has spent over a decade caring for women, infants and families across the perinatal period, from preconception counselling and medication safety in pregnancy and breastfeeding, through to the assessment and treatment of postnatal psychiatric conditions and early parent-infant relationships.

Beyond her clinical work, Dr Howard has played a leading role in building perinatal and infant mental health services across Western Sydney. She was instrumental in founding and establishing the Westmead Mother and Baby Unit, going on to serve as the Perinatal and Infant Consultant Psychiatrist for the inpatient unit, co-designed and founded the Safe Start Perinatal Clinic, and led the development of the policy, procedures and clinical governance underpinning perinatal-infant mental health services across the district. She brings a warm, family-focused and trauma-informed approach, and works collaboratively with GPs, obstetric and paediatric colleagues to deliver thoughtful, individualised care that keeps the wellbeing of both parent and child at its centre.