Supporting maternal transition: continuity, coaching, and control.

The transition from maternity services to community child health services on discharge from hospital occurs at a potentially vulnerable time for women in their transition through the childbearing/early parenting continuum. Their experiences contribute to their developing maternal efficacy and parenting skill. The ideal attributes of services that aim to support women and their families during this time include continuity of care, service integration, and birth in accessible, community-based contexts. The purpose of this study was to investigate aspects of maternal experience of mothers attending with their infants a publicly funded drop-in postnatal health-care service, as well as their reasons for attending and their perceptions of its usefulness to them as a mechanism of continuity and a source of support.