Influences on women in rural and regional areas help-seeking behaviour during the perinatal period

A substantial level of depression and anxiety is experienced by women in the perinatal period. This distress might be exacerbated for women in the Northern Territory who reside there temporarily as a function of family-work circumstances and hence may have a limited local social support network; while other women, most notably Indigenous women, who live remotely, might experience issues because of distance, culture, and language. There is limited research concerning depression and anxiety in the perinatal period among women living in these rural and remote areas or in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It is generally considered however, that the incidence will be at least on a par with the general population. Many women no matter their cultural or social circumstances fail to seek help from primary care professionals for emotional distress during the perinatal period and indeed, such distress often is not detected even during routine health visits. These low detection and help-seeking rates can lower the quality of life and increase the morbidity rate among these women in later life, and potentially have an impact on their offspring and partners. Women in rural and remote regions who do seek help may face additional barriers in accessing and/or completing a sequence of treatment. In this paper, we propose a model of help-seeking which is specific to women in the perinatal period taking account of rural and remote factors. The model remains to be validated but the importance of determining factors which influence women’s decision to seek help for psychological issues during this time cannot be overemphasised.