“Being Flexible and Creative”: A Qualitative Study on Maternity Care Assistants' Experiences with Non-Western Immigrant Women

Abstract

BackgroundSeveral studies conducted in developed countries have explored postnatal care professionals' experiences with non-western women. These studies reported different cultural practices, lack of knowledge of the maternity care system, communication difficulties, and the important role of the baby's grandmother as care-giver in the postnatal period. However, not much attention has been paid in existing literature to postnatal care professionals' approaches to these issues. Our main objective was to gain insight into how Dutch postnatal care providers - ‘maternity care assistants’ (MCA) - address issues encountered when providing care for non-western women.MethodsA generic qualitative research approach was used. Two researchers interviewed fifteen MCAs individually, analysing the interview material separately and then comparing and discussing their results. Analytical codes were organised into main themes and subthemes.ResultsMCAs perceive caring for non-western women as interesting and challenging, but sometimes difficult too. To guarantee the health and safety of mother and baby, they have adopted flexible and creative approaches to address issues concerning traditional practices, socioeconomic status and communication. Furthermore, they employ several other strategies to establish relationships with non-western clients and their families, improve women's knowledge of the maternity care system and give health education.ConclusionProvision of postnatal care to non-western clients may require special skills and measures. The quality of care for non-western clients might be improved by including these skills in education and retraining programmes for postnatal care providers on top of factual knowledge about traditional practices.

Motherhood in the shade of migration: A qualitative study of the experience of Syrian refugee mothers living in Turkey

“…It has been noted that refugees seek to meet basic needs, such as safety, nutrition, sheltering, and health care, and are unable to experience aspects of a ‘quality life’ instead of leading a qualified life, because they often come from low socioeconomic backgrounds (Turkish Ministry of Interior General Directorate of Immigration, 2016). The women in this study described how they were unable to prepare for childbirth due to financial problems and other factors related to poverty, which is consistent with a study conducted on immigrants in the Netherlands (Boerleider et al, ). The women in this study also identified that they had heavy domestic duties, and this impacted their ability to access health care during pregnancy and the postnatal period, as well as their general health and well‐being.…”

“…Refugee women have to cope with motherhood, protecting family integrity, and financial troubles (Murray, Windsor, Parker, & Tewfik, 2010;Hoban & Liamputtong, 2013 , 2016). The women in this study described how they were unable to prepare for childbirth due to financial problems and other factors related to poverty, which is consistent with a study conducted on immigrants in the Netherlands (Boerleider et al, 2014). The women in this study also identified that they had heavy domestic duties, and this impacted their ability to access health care during pregnancy and the postnatal period, as well as their general health and well-being.…”

“…Other researchers have identified that traditional postnatal practices commonly include practices related to diet and nutrition (Higginbottom, Vallianatos, Shankar, Safipour, & Davey, ), not being alone after delivery, rest, receiving help for housework, and avoiding going out for 40 days after delivery (Bassey Etowa, ; Hill, Hunt, & Hyrkäs, ; Murray et al, ). It is also reported refugee mothers might experience fear when they remain separated from their families and their culture (Kelly, Nel, & Nolte, ), and a lack of social support and limited financial possibilities for refugee women in the postnatal period might inhibit them from carrying out their cultural practices (Benza & Liamputtong, ; Boerleider et al, ). Furthermore, our study suggested that Syrian refugee women might find it difficult to care for themselves and their babies in culturally‐appropriate ways during pregnancy and postnatally due to fear, poverty, demands placed on them in large households, and isolation.…”

“…These include language barriers; low socioeconomic status; separation from, and lack of ability to communicate with, family members; cultural differences; racism; discrimination; and political obstacles (Hill, Hunt, & Hyrkäs, 2012;Tsao, Creedy, & Gamble, 2015). These factors have a negative impact on access to healthcare and education services (Hill, Hunt, & Hyrkäs, 2012;Boerleider et al, 2014). In particular, refugee women become isolated and tend to live almost exclusively within their homes (Hoban & Liamputtong, 2013).…”

“An on-going individual adjustment”: a qualitative study of midwives’ experiences counselling pregnant women on physical activity in Sweden

“…The participants found it challenging to provide effective counselling to women whose participation in physical activity was limited by cultural expectations. Similar results have been reported in studies exploring maternity care assistants and midwives providing postpartum care [ 23 , 24 ]. These studies, performed in a Dutch setting, describe how the work with immigrant women needs to be flexible and creative, especially addressing issues related to lack of financial resources, low socioeconomic status, and family pressure.…”