Stress and anxiety associated with lack of access to maternity services for rural parturient women.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to compare the level of stress and anxiety between women resident in communities with different degrees of access to local maternity services.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
Fifty-two communities across rural British Columbia with different levels of access to maternity care services (ranging from no services to local specialist obstetrician).


METHODS
A total of 187 women, 40 of whom were from communities with no local access to services.


METHODS
Stress score on the R ural Pregnancy Experience Scale including financial and continuity of care subscales.


RESULTS
Parturient women who had to travel more than one hour to access services were 7.4 times more likely to experience moderate or severe stress when compared to women who had local access to maternity services.


CONCLUSIONS
Lack of access is strongly associated with stress in rural parturient women.
Centre for Rural Health Research, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. jude.kornelsen@
Jude
J
Kornelsen
Kathrin
K
Stoll
Stefan
S
Grzybowski
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012424:Rural Population; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D014195:Travel