title: Women's experience of domiciliary postnatal care in Victoria and South Australia: a population-based survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite the expansion of postnatal domiciliary services, we know little about the women receiving visits and how they regard their care. The aim of this study is to examine the provision of postnatal domiciliary care from a consumer perspective.
  
  
  METHODS
  All women who gave birth in September-October 2007 in South Australia and Victoria were mailed questionnaires 6 months after the birth. Women were asked if they had received a midwifery home visit, and to rate the care they received.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More women in South Australia reported receiving a domiciliary visit than in Victoria (88.0% v. 76.0%) and they were more likely to rate their care as 'very good' (69.1% v. 63.4%). Younger women, women on a lower income, who were holding a healthcare concession card or who had not completed secondary education were less likely to receive a visit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the majority of women in public maternity care in Victoria and South Australia receive domiciliary care and rate it positively, there are significant state-based differences. Those more likely to benefit from domiciliary care are less likely to receive a visit. There is a need to further explore the purpose, aims and content of domiciliary care at individual and state-wide levels.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing & Midwifery, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia. maryanne.biro@monash.edu
authors.forename: Mary Anne
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Biro
authors.forename: Jane S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Yelland
authors.forename: Georgina A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.forename: Stephanie J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006792:House Calls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008880:Midwifery; D016017:Odds Ratio; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011181:Postnatal Care; D013021:South Australia; D014739:Victoria; D055815:Young Adult