BACKGROUND:
Background: In recent years there has seen significant closure of small maternity units particularly in rural regions of Australia. Those small maternity units that do continue to care for childbearing women may only provide antenatal and postnatal care with women giving birth in a larger maternity unit often some distance away. There are some small maternity units that continue to provide complete care to childbearing women which is the focus of this research. The issue here is that these small rural maternity units tend to only cater for women who are having a low-risk pregnancy. When the women are deemed ‘high risk’ they will need to transfer to a larger maternity unit for their ongoing antenatal care and childbirth. These larger maternity units are often some distance away requiring women to travel for each antenatal care visit and for birth. Little is known about the women’s experience of this.

OBJECTIVES:
Aim: This research aimed to explore women’s experience of having to transfer their care to a larger maternity unit due to being deemed at risk due to being deemed at risk.

METHODS:
Methods: A qualitative descriptive phenomenology approach was used in this research to interview 20 women either via zoom or face to face. Thematic analysis was used to develop codes and themes through an inductive process.

RESULTS:
Results: The themes that emerged from the data included: don’t realise how hard it is, forces you to make choices, throws whole relationship, you’re an individual not a rule. This paper will present the findings from these interviews.

CONCLUSIONS:
Key message: Ultimately the findings contribute valuable data that will help inform practice, health service and health policy development. Recommendation includes the need to develop a model of care that facilitates women to stay local for their maternity care.

KEY MESSAGE:
There are no conflicts of interest. Place of birth - rural