Darwin paediatrician Dr Louise Woodward says she would rather be at home working with sick children than in Canberra battling the approval of NT gas projects. 

Children will be at an increased risk of cancer and birth defects should a planned gas processing and petrochemicals plant in Darwin Harbour go ahead, she and other doctors have warned.

Dozens of healthcare professionals converged on Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday to urge the federal government to withdraw $1.5 billion in funding for the Middle Arm industrial hub in Darwin.

The expansion of fossil fuel projects, including fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, will adversely affect the wellbeing of communities and push an exhausted healthcare system beyond breaking point, they said.