Pregnancy and the postpartum are critical stages in women's adjustment to motherhood and can have a significant impact on childbearing women's overall psychological well-being (Chokka, 2002; Stocky & Lynch, 2000). According to the National Midwifery Guidelines for Consultation and Referral (ANMC, 2006), the physical, emotional, social and cultural aspects for both women and their infant(s) need to be addressed as part of best practice standards in maternity care. To accomplish this, midwives

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... d to be well-educated, competent and resourced in these areas of practice. Midwives are reported to provide poor intrapartum and postpartum emotional care to childbearing women that could in part, be attributed to low self-efficacy and knowledge inadequacies in regards to the provision of emotional care (Brown, Davey & Bruinsma, 2005; Bruinsma, Brown, & Davey, 2003; Gamble, Creedy, & Moyle, 2004b; Rudman, El-Khouri, & Waldenström, 2007a, 2007b). However, very few studies have been undertaken to both determine and improve Australian midwives' knowledge of emotional care issues and address their professional development needs (Eden, 1989; Buist et al., 2006). Therefore, the aims of this research study were to: 1. Determine knowledge levels, attitudes and self-reported practices of midwives in relation to emotional disorders (i.e. antenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety disorders) during pregnancy and postpartum. 2. Develop, implement and evaluate an educational resource to improve the knowledge, attitudes and practices of midwives in the provision of emotional care. In addressing these aims, two research phases were undertaken. The first phase was a scoping study in the form of a national survey to examine midwives' knowledge of perinatal emotional disorders and their attitudes and self-reported practices in providing emotional care to childbearing women. Information gathered from the first phase informed the development of an online educational resource designed to enhance midwives' knowledge and [...]