Functional status after childbirth: a comparison of Australian women from English and non-English speaking backgrounds.

A survey was used to explore the relationship between English speaking versus non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) and functional status after childbirth. Women were recruited (n = 132) from a culturally diverse population and allocated to sub-groups based on their dominant language background. All had experienced an uncomplicated pregnancy, delivery and delivered a healthy infant between 37 and 42 weeks gestation. Mothers were contacted while attending maternal child health centres and surveyed at 6 weeks post delivery using the Inventory Of Functional Status After Childbirth (Fawcett, Tulman, & Myers, 1988). Functional status scores were not significantly different based on dominant language background, however significantly fewer women of NESB (Mean 2 = 7.03, df 1, p = 0.02) breast fed their infant.