Are Slovenian midwives and nurses ready to take on a greater role in caring for women with postnatal depression?

Objective: to answer the question of whether Slovenian midwives and nurses feet prepared to take over the responsibility for the care of women with postnatal depression. Design: questionnaire survey using a toot designed with data from previously conducted focus groups and a literature review. Setting: the central maternity hospital and six community centres in the Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana. Participants: 134 participants completed the questionnaire, out of 175 distributed. The sample consisted of 86 participants from the maternity hospital, who were almost evenly divided into midwives and nurses, and 48 participants from the community services, where nurses prevailed over midwives. Findings: participants tacked knowledge of postnatal mental health, and 99% of them expressed the need for more information. They considered the woman's partner to be the most appropriate person to detect postnatal depression, and doctors to be the key people involved in the treatment. In order to take over the role of prevention, detection and management of postnatal depression, midwives and nurses felt that they would need more knowledge and more continuous contact with women. Key conclusions: most participants did not know the main characteristics of postnatal depression, and were not confident in their knowledge. They felt that they tacked continuity in the care they could provide, and this affected their ability to establish a trusting relationship with women.