Maternity experience survey

Please read the information on this page before participating in this survey.

This is the first Maternity Experience Survey in the ACT.

Your feedback will:

• let us know what we are doing well,
• if the improvements through the Maternity in Focus reforms are being experienced positively,
• and where we need to focus our attention for further improvement.

The Maternity in Focus: Maternity Experience Survey collects information about the quality and experiences of maternity care provided to those giving birth in the ACT.

How to take part

This survey is open to any woman or birthing person who gives birth in the ACT from 1 September 2024 onwards through public maternity care, including public homebirth; and whose baby is in their care. This includes non-ACT residents who birth in the ACT.

You can participate in the survey by downloading our free ACT Maternity Survey App or in your browser. You will be asked to register as a participant and give your consent before entering the survey. Your answers in the survey will be deidentified and confidential.

Please note, if you have experienced perinatal loss, or if baby is no longer in your care, we suggest you do not access this survey as it may cause distress. It is important to us to hear from you if you have feedback about your care that you wish to share. Please let the services know directly using the Consumer and carer feedback form. This can be done anonymously if preferred.

If you need support or someone to talk to, please contact your GP or alternatively these supports.

Participate in the survey via the App

Download the app from the Google Play Store

Download the app from the Apple App Store

You do not need to allow access to your GPS or Bluetooth data. We are not collecting GPS or Bluetooth data for this survey.

Participate in the survey via your browser

Complete the survey in your browser

What to expect

Once registered, you will receive a link to the confidential first survey to fill out in the first week after baby’s birth.

The survey has preliminary questions about you which will take less than 5 minutes to answer. After this, we will ask you to answer questions about your pregnancy and birth care experiences.

When baby is about 6 weeks old you will get a second set of questions about your postnatal care experiences.

You can save your answers and come back at any time. You can choose to answer all questions or only some questions. It is entirely up to you.

The survey is completely voluntary, you can leave any time for any reason or no reason at all during the survey period.

How the results will be used

Results from this survey will be used to improve maternity care.

We will report the survey results as a summary of findings. We will not identify any individuals in the survey data reports. We will share the summary findings online, through social media and in public reports.

We will share the results in 2025.

We will give de-identified survey reports to ACT maternity services to inform maternity care improvement efforts.

Survey notifications

If you are using the app, you will receive a notification on your mobile phone to let you know when the second survey is waiting for you. Tap the notification to go to the survey or open the app.

If you are using the website, you will receive a notification in your email to let you know the next survey is waiting for you. Click on the link in the email to go to the survey.

Get technical help

If you are having technical issues you can restart the app or refresh the webpage.

If you are still having issues email ACTMaternitySurvey@act.gov.au.

Leave the survey

If you would like to leave the survey at any time, simply uninstall the app from your phone.

There is no penalty or consequence for you if you choose to leave the study.

Privacy information

We will protect your information and privacy.

Your answers will be completely confidential and will not be identified as individual responses.

We will not have access to personal information such as your name, phone number or email address. We will use your responses for quality improvement purposes only. No other agency or department will have access to your details.

All information that is published will be de-identified to ensure participants cannot be identified.

If you would like to have your data removed from the survey, please contact ACTMaternitySurvey@act.gov.au so that we can organise that for you.

If you have any ethics concerns or complaints about the survey contact the Human Research Ethics Committee secretariat on 02 6174 7968 or ethics@act.gov.au.

Contact us

For more information about the survey email ACTMaternitySurvey@act.gov.au.

If you would like to provide feedback about your experiences directly to the health services, please let the services know directly. This can be done anonymously if preferred.

Get support

If you feel distressed during or after the survey you can get support from:

• Your GP
• Perinatal Wellbeing Centre by calling 6288 1936
• Red Nose Grief and Loss by calling 1300 308 307 or through live chat, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• 13YARN for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by calling 13 92 76, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Lifeline by calling 131 114, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Domestic Violence Crisis Service by calling 02 6280 0900, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Beyond Blue by calling 1300 22 4636, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you are under 25 years old you can get support by contacting:

• Kids Helpline by calling 1800 551 800, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Headspace by calling 1800 650 890.

Crisis support

In an emergency call 000.

If you, or someone you know is in crisis, contact:

• Access Mental Health by calling 02 6205 1065 or 1800 629 354, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• QLife by calling 1800 184 527 from 3 pm to midnight
• Lifeline by calling 13 11 14, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Domestic Violence Crisis Service by calling 02 6280 0900, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Crisis and Assessment Treatment Team by calling 02 6205 1065, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week