Postnatal Screening by Well Child/Tamariki Ora (WCTO) Practitioners: Culturally Appropriate Approaches

At every core contact, the WCTO practitioner will initiate and/or review a health needs assessment and agree on a care plan with the family, and respond to assessments and refer as required.

When undertaking the following assessments, it is recommended that WCTO practitioners refer to the Waitemata DHB, eCALD®Services (2010d). CALD 4: Working with Interpreters guidelines when working with women who have no or limited English speaking ability.

Postnatal Screening

• Alongside a regular review of maternal mental health, the WTCO practitioners will be required to administer the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-3) postnatally at the 6-week and 3–4 month check to assess the possibility of depression (Ministry of Health, 2013a; 2013b).

Family health and wellbeing

• Will be required to discuss maternal and parent-child interaction and bonding, mental health and parenting. WCTO practitioners should refer to relevant topics in the Practitioner Handbook (Ministry of Health, 2013b) including:
  • Perinatal mental health.
  • Infant and preschool mental health and attachment.
  • Alcohol and other drugs.
  • Strengthening family relationships.
  • Parenting skills and support (see Parenting for child age and stage in the health education section for resources).
  • Building social capital.
  • Supporting families to access income and housing.
  • Strengthening family relationships.

Family violence

• Will be required to conduct routine enquiry for intimate partner violence (Ministry of Health, 2013b; 2002).
• Will be required to undertake risk assessment for child abuse and neglect (Ministry of Health, 2013b; 2002).
• It is recommended that the WCTO practitioners when conducting routine enquiry for intimate partner violence and assessment for child abuse and neglect, refer to the Waitemata DHB, eCALD® Services (2014). CALD Supplementary: Family Violence Resource for Health Providers for guidelines on interviewing CALD women.

Additional contacts

• Will be required to assess the need for additional contacts (Ministry of Health, 2013b).