The Bendigo Family Study congratulate young investigator Dr Adele Lourensz  who presented her research at PSANZ 2025 in Brisbane. Dr Lourensz how  regional and rural pregnant women and their partners access reliable healthcare information and antenatal care at a time when regional and rural obstetric services are being consolidated.  As part of the Bendigo Family Study we sought to explore how a cohort of regional and rural parents secured information and care.

The key findings were:
* Both new mothers and fathers ranked their GP as the most substantial provider of healthcare information during the pregnancy (mothers 29.9%, fathers 26.7%).
* Mothers ranked obstetricians as the second and midwives as the third main source of information.
* However, new fathers ranked midwives as the second and obstetricians as the third key source of information.
* Family, friends and the internet were ranked well below healthcare professionals for impact.

The results reinforce the critical role of rural and regional general practitioners in pregnancy care. Maintaining an adequate GP workforce is essential for regional and rural maternity care.

regards
Professor Julie Quinlivan
​Bendigo Family Study

The Bendigo Family Study is pleased to report that another of our young investigators, Dr Yong Shi Zhang, successfully presented her research at PSANZ 2025 that evaluated whether mode of delivery impacted on parenting confidence in rural parents. Maternal psychopathology and self-esteem during childbirth may impact on parenting self-efficacy but there are significant cultural overlays in outcomes. It has been proposed that caesarean section birth may adversely impact upon maternal parenting and breastfeeding confidence.

The impact of delivery mode in regional and rural communities within Australia and the impact on partners is unknown.  This study aimed to assess parenting confidence of mothers who delivered by CS and their partners in relation to parenting and breastfeeding confidence.

In this case control (mothers matched for age and parity) subsidy the key findings were that:
* Breastfeeding confidence was similar between the two groups (Vaginal delivery 50.2 sd 14 vs CS 48.5 sd 15; p=0.61).
* Interestingly, new mothers reported higher parenting confidence following CS (vaginal 21.2 sd 5 vs CS 22.2 sd 5; p<0.001) but no difference was observed in parenting confidence between new fathers by delivery mode (vaginal 21.2 sd 5 vs CS 21.1 sd 6; p=0.85).

Our results are reassuring and do not support a finding that Caesarean Section mode of birth adversely impacts on breastfeeding or parenting confidence in our regional and rural parents.

regards
Professor Julie Quinlivan
Bendigo Family Study
 

We congratulate one of our young investigators Dr Jemma Billinghurst who presented her research that investigated whether our new rural parents are vulnerable to cyberchondria. Cyberchondria is a condition where individuals experience distress about a health-related condition that causes repeated or excessive online searches for health-related information. Cyberchondria is common in people with high levels of “health anxiety” aggravated by poor access to healthcare information.   

Cyberchondria is associated with adverse consequences including impacts on work and social capacity and may predispose individuals to be falsely reassured or conversely excessively prompted to seek medical attention. Regional and rural families may be prone to cyberchondria due to difficulty of access from care providers.  

We explored cyberchondria scores in a sample of new regional and rural parents who were enrolled in our Bendigo Family Study.

The key findings were:
* Cyberchondria scores were significantly higher in new mothers compared to new fathers (27.3 (8.2) vs 23.5 (7.1); p=0.04).
* This gender difference was due to significant differences in the "excessive subscale" domain (9.8(2.8) vs 7.0(2.6); p<0.0001). The other subscale domains were not significantly different between new mothers and fathers (all p>0.05). 

Excessive subscale refers to an excessive need to seek information out on the internet.

New mothers in regional and rural locations may be vulnerable to cyberchondria, in particular excessive searching for health-related information.
 
We plan further studies to explore how we can ensure optimal delivery of reliable information to new rural parents to prevent harmful excessive searching for information on the internet.

regards

​Professor Julie Quinlivan
​Bendigo Family Study

The Bendigo Family Study congratulates Tomas Petersen, one of the research students helping on this trial, who presented at the 2025 Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific meeting in Brisbane. The study explored the attitudes of new parents and grandparents towards genetic testing.  Previous Australian studies have indicated that new mothers are reluctant to consider genetic cancer testing with concerns expressed over possible future discrimination. However, these studies were over a decade old and genetic cancer testing advocacy and protections against discrimination are now being implemented in Australian law. Further, new genetic tests for individualised healthcare around diet and exercise are being developed that might enhance overall health. 

The study explored the attitudes of new parents and grandparents to hypothetical questions around genetic testing for specific cancer risks, and individualised diet and exercise genetic tests that could be significant for future health.

The key findings were that 
* 76% of new parents and grandparents would have a genetic test if it provided them with a 25% risk of a specific cancer.
* 84% of responders stated that they would have a genetic blood test that helped identify a preferred exercise pattern or dietary pattern for individualised health.
* Only 24% of our new parents and grandparents felt that a positive genetic test might result in discrimination.

There were no differences in attitudes between mothers and fathers or between parents and grandparents (all p>0.05).
​
These findings differ from our study conducted only a decade ago where rates of acceptance were lower and indicate an increasingly positive attitude in new parents and grandparents towards individualised genetic test for cancer and lifestyle management. 

The abstract and poster presentation can be viewed in detail at researchgate.

regards
​Professor Julie Quinlivan
​Bendigo Family Study