The Dona Maria Pre and Postnatal Support Network is a statewide service, providing support groups and a dedicated telephone line for families experiencing pre and postnatal distress. The network was established to provide easy access to support services for all, by a variety of mediums. Trained volunteers form the base of the network, and volunteer health professionals and recovered mothers work together providing support from lived and learned experiences.

This presentation will explore a breakdown of the varieties of people who volunteer, their reasons for doing so, and what they feel they gain from the experience. This information is gathered from volunteer satisfaction questionnaires. Providing services through a volunteer workforce comes at a cost to an organization, with financial and risk management implications. A duty of care to both clients accessing services and volunteers exists.

Consumer focus groups have commenced, which outline for the service the direction needed to adequately meet the needs across the state. Gaining the funding requirements needed to maintain and development a community organization is difficult for all, and this presentation will discuss the service experience of this.

Rural outreach to isolated families is an important dimension of service delivery, and use of the website, message board and teleconference aim to provide a source of support. Future directions for the service will be outlined.

Dona Maria Pre and Postnatal Support Network have been instrumental in establishing a peak body for pre and postnatal illness. An inaugural meeting involving delegates from all states of Australia will be held in Sydney in March 2001. Directions will include responding to national policies and documents, increase national awareness of pre and postnatal issues, advocate for adequate services in each state and the building of a national databank of services.