This study provides unique evidence about MCH nurses’ views about risk factors for maternal mental health
problems and unsettled infant behaviour, and current practices in addressing these in primary care in Victoria.
The respondents’ emphasis on the social determinants of postnatal mental health, and their commitment to
their own role in facilitating mothers’ wellbeing and helping them find ways to overcome risks to their mental
health, provides support for the implementation of a prevention focus in universal MCH service. The main risk
factors named by the respondents in this study were potentially modifiable, although addressing these would
involve some changes in what MCH nurses are offering, to whom they are offering it and when it is offered