Monash Rural Health study calls for urgent funding to support disaster planning that considers rural pregnant women and new mums
A landmark study of rural maternal and child health nurses has found that pregnant women and new mums are significantly impacted by disasters and need to be considered in disaster planning.
Last year saw large parts of Eastern Australia experiencing record-breaking rainfall and floods, with predictions that climate change will result in an increase in the number and intensity of natural disasters nationally. Now a new study, from Monash Rural Health, has found that a lack of support in these times can severely impact mental health, warning that disaster planning in Australia has paid scant attention to the needs of this group.
The study led by Dr Rochelle Hine, from Monash University’s School of Rural Health in Gippsland and published in the Journal of Public Health, surveyed maternal and child health nurses across two rural regions of Victoria, Australia.
The study focussed on the work of the maternal and child health nurse (MCHN) because they play a pivotal primary care role in supporting the health and wellbeing of women, infants, and families in the early years of the child’s life. During the pre-school years, regular MCHN visits are a core component of the support provided to families by the Victorian Government Department of Health and are well-placed to identify the experiences and needs of women and families in times of disaster and recovery.
According to Dr Hine, survey and interview data gathered from the maternal and child health nurses across the Gippsland and Ovens Murray regions, revealed that natural disasters exacerbate stressors on perinatal rural women “and can impede their access to formal and informal supports, which in turn impacts their mental health outcomes”.
“There is an urgent need for targeted investment in rural perinatal services to enable proactive planning and implementation of disaster strategies to reduce the impact of natural disasters on rural perinatal women and their families.”
Dr Hine said that while it is known that drought, flood, and bushfire have had destructive repercussions on the mental health of many rural communities across Australia it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that there has been widespread concern about the mental health of perinatal women.
“The perinatal period immediately before and after birth can be a difficult time, exacerbated by living in a rural area, with challenges around distance and transport, technology (poor internet connectivity), limited service options, and gender stereotypes that influence parenting roles and responsibilities,” she said.
“As the needs of perinatal women cannot be postponed until the disaster period has passed, there is an urgent need to improve understanding of the mental health needs, experiences, and challenges of perinatal women during times of disaster so that systems and services are prepared.”
Read the full publication, published in the Journal of Public Health: Natural disasters and perinatal mental health: what are the impacts on perinatal women and the service system?