Evaluating the impact of befriending for pregnant asylum-seeking and refugee women

Abstract

Pregnant asylum-seeking and refugee women are a particularly vulnerable group in society, who may be possibly living alone in poverty in inappropriate accommodation (Dunne, 2007) and experiencing hostile attitudes (Hynes and Sale, 2010). They may have poor physical and mental health, placing them at an increased risk of poor pregnancy outcomes (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 2010). Despite this, they are less likely to attend for timely maternity care. This article discusses the evaluation to date of an ongoing befriending project located in Northern England, targeting pregnant asylum-seeking and refugee women and helping to address difficulties that they may face. Volunteer befrienders, who themselves are asylum-seeking and refugee mothers, receive training to provide support and guidance to clients. Preliminary data suggest that befriending has advantages for both client and volunteer: clients appear to develop a trusting relationship with their befriender which facilitates self-confidence and helps overcome social isolation; and the volunteers feel that they are undertaking a worthwhile role and often move onto paid employment. Befriending may be a useful resource for midwives and ultimately improve pregnancy outcomes for asylumseeking and refugee women.

A concept analysis of befriending

“…A focus on the befriender as almost a friend and the importance of a trusting or friend‐like, one‐to‐one relationship and its ability to meet the emotional needs of the befriended are also key to several other articles which focus on befriending as an intervention for those who suffer from depression, (Harris & Causa ) face social isolation and loneliness (Andrews et al . ) and for asylum seeking and refugee women (McCarthy & Haith‐Cooper ).…”

“…Befriending is an organised social intervention overseen by a voluntary or community based non‐statutory organisation established for facilitating befriending (McCarthy & Haith‐Cooper ). Individuals who want to undertake a befriending role are trained for that role (Reid , MacDonald ) and individuals who it is believed would benefit from being befriended are identified by the organisation through a variety of methods.…”

Multisite implementation of trained volunteer doula support for disadvantaged childbearing women: a mixed-methods evaluation

“…77 When applying to become befrienders, women who are themselves often asylum-seekers or refugee mothers receive a 4-half-day training programme. Befrienders are matched with their clients as closely as possible for cultural background and shared language and are expected to meet clients for up to 3 hours per week.…”

‘We make them feel special’: The experiences of voluntary sector workers supporting asylum seeking and refugee women during pregnancy and early motherhood

“…Much of the support afforded to refugee and asylum seekers within the UK comes from the nonstatutory or voluntary sector, who are either contracted by the government to provide these services, or operate independently as charities (McCarthy and Haith-Cooper, 2013). Workers from these organisations are considered to provide a vital safety net for refugees and asylum seekers in terms of mediating between their position of social exclusion and mainstream services (MIND, 2009;Flanagan and Hancock, 2010;Waugh, 2010).…”