New research led by Fiona Faulks has explored the experience of accessing perinatal care in rural communities.
“Women in rural areas often experience poorer perinatal outcomes than their urban counterparts. To help address this, our research aimed to uncover both the barriers and enablers experienced by rural women seeking access to perinatal care,” Ms Faulks said.
The research team interviewed perinatal healthcare providers who identified several barriers that impacted women accessing care in rural areas.
“These included women's personal circumstances, challenging professional relationships, inequitable service provision, ineffective collaboration between services and clinicians, and government funding models and policies.”
The research team also identified factors that support women in rural areas to access perinatal care.
“Some of the enablers identified by perinatal health care providers included strength and resilience of rural women, social capital within rural communities, flexible care delivery and innovative practice, rural culture and continuity of care models,” she said.
Ms Faulks said the research provides valuable insights into the experiences of rural women.
“Several of the barriers identified by rural healthcare providers can be addressed. For example, education regarding health systems, rights and expectations, the use of virtual care models and the equitable distribution of perinatal services."
"We hope our findings lead to solutions that may reduce the burden on rural women in accessing and remaining engaged with perinatal care.”
“This research also highlights the importance of rural culture in contributing to the wellbeing of rural women, despite challenging circumstances.”
