Table 1 Summary of variables included in the analysis

Sector of birth facility

Did you have your baby in a private or public facility?

1. Public hospital or public birth centre

Missing data was imputed by using other responses pertaining to their birth hospital and public or private status.

2. Private hospital or private birth centre

3. Don’t know

Postpartum care

In the first 10 days of being at home with your baby, did any of the following happen?

1. I was telephoned by a midwife or nurse

Women could nominate multiple contacts. Responses 1 and 2 were deemed to have been proactively delivered by the health service.

2. I was visited at home by a midwife or nurse

Responses 3 and 4 were deemed to have been initiated by the women.

3. I visited a midwife or nurse

Women whose babies had not come home were not included in the analysis.

4. I visited a general practitioner (GP)

5. None of the above

6. My baby hasn’t come home yet

Access to 24-hour support

When you were at home after the birth of your baby, did you have the name and contact details of a care provider you could get in touch with at any hour if you were worried?

1. Yes

2. No

Length of hospital stay

Altogether, how long did you stay in the hospital or birth centre where your baby was born?

1. Nights

The variable was transformed into a categorical variable consisting of four groups: <24 hours, 1–2 nights, 3–4 nights, 5+ nights. Women whose babies were born at home were not included in the analysis.

2. Hours

3. I had my baby at home

Satisfaction with the amount of postnatal care

Thinking about the amount of contact you had with care providers since having your baby, in your opinion, was this…

1. Too much?

‘About right’ was coded as satisfied with amount of postnatal care and ‘too much’ and ‘too little’ was coded as not satisfied with amount of postnatal care.

2. Too little?

3. About right?

Parenting confidence

When you first had your new baby at home, how confident did you feel about looking after him or her?

1. Extremely confident

‘Extremely confident’ was coded as confident, and ‘fairly confident’ to ‘not at all confident’ was coded as not confident. This categorisation was chosen to reflect an optimal outcome in parenting confidence.

2. Fairly confident

3. Confident

4. Not very confident

5. Not at all confident

6. My baby hasn’t come home yet

Feeling depressed

How often have you experienced feeling depressed since having your baby?

1. Never

Women were coded as having experienced feeling depressed since their birth if they responded ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’

2. Rarely

3. Sometimes

4. Often

5. Does not apply to me

Maternal age at time of birth of the baby

What was your date of birth?

Age was derived from maternal date of birth and date of birth of the baby and coded as <20, 20–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35–39, ≥40

When was your baby born?

Identification as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person

Which of the following best describes you?

1. Aboriginal

The variable was coded as ATSI culture yes, no.

2. Torres Strait Islander

3. South Sea Islander

4. None of the above

Country of birth

Where were you born?

1. Australia

2. Other country

Level of education

What is the highest level of qualification you have completed?

1. No formal qualifications

The variable was transformed into four categories: Year 10 (responses 1 and 2), Year 12 (response 3), Trade/diploma (responses 4 and 5) and university (responses 6 and 7)

2. Year 10 or equivalent

3. Year 12 or equivalent

4. Trade/apprenticeship

5. Certificate/diploma

6. University degree

7. Postgraduate degree

Area of residence

In what town or suburb was your usual place of residence you’re your baby was born?

Area of residence was calculated from postcode using Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia and classified as City, inner regional, outer regional and remote.

What is the postcode of this town or suburb?