Service delivery issues for migrant and refugee women

2.3Service delivery issues for migrant and refugee women

Experiences of antenatal care among migrant and refugee women may be improved through (State Perinatal Reference Group 2008):

social support, for example through ethnic-specific cultural liaison officers and women’s groups, to maintain cultural connections with the traditions, birthing ceremonies and rituals of women’s countries of origin;

individualised care, informed by cultural awareness and understanding among health professionals, including knowledge of cultural traditions and practices relevant to pregnancy and birth and associated expectations of women, especially of groups in the local community;

a cross-cultural approach to communication based on recognition of the culture of the woman and the health professional;

cultural brokerage, for example through maternity liaison officers/multicultural health workers who can help women understand and navigate the health system, provide education and resources in relation to maternity care, act as a patient advocate and liaise between women and maternity staff, or through partnerships between English-speaking health professionals and multicultural resource centres;

education, including linguistically appropriate information, parenting education workshops, education about accessing the health system, the different models of care available, and education for fathers/partners on antenatal issues; and

culturally appropriate resources, including materials available in the woman’s own language, resources in spoken format for women who lack literacy in their own languages, visual resources specifically designed to support antenatal care and access to accredited interpreter services during appointments or important events.

At a local level, individual services can assist health professionals by (National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health 2010):

monitoring changing local needs and adjusting services accordingly;

maintaining accurate information about each woman’s current address and contact details during her pregnancy;

offering flexible services in the number and length of antenatal appointments when interpreting services are used;

assisting women to book in for their first antenatal appointment, particularly in areas where they are required to telephone a central service and be allocated an appointment at a specific hospital;

ensuring continuity of care wherever possible; and

disseminating information about pregnancy and antenatal services, including how to find and use services, in a variety of formats, settings and languages.

2.4Resources

Consumer resources

Network of Immigrant and Refugee Women Australia Inc

NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service — Pregnancy and postnatal topics

Health professional resources

Hach M (2012) Common Threads: The Sexual and Reproductive Health Experiences of Immigrant and Refugee Women in Australia. MCWH: Melbourne.

Family Planning Victoria Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting resources

Mental Health in Multicultural Australia (MHiMA)

Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit (VTPU)

Interpreters

NSW Health Standards Procedures for Working with Health Care Interpreters PD2006_053.

Overseas Student Health Cover

Overseas Student Health Cover – Frequently Asked Questions

2.5References

Carolan M & Cassar L (2010) Antenatal care perceptions of pregnant African women, attending maternity services in Melbourne, Australia. Midwifery 26(2): 189–201.

CEH (2009) Assessing the Need for an Interpreter. Melbourne: Centre for Culture Ethnicity and Health.

CER (2007) NSW Mothers and Babies 2006. NSW Public Health Bulletin 18 (S-1)..

Correa-Velez I & Ryan J (2012) Developing a best practice model of refugee maternity care. Women Birth 25(1): 13–22.

Hach M (2012) Common Threads: The Sexual and Reproductive Health Experiences of Immigrant and Refugee Women in Australia. Melbourne: Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health.

Henderson S, Kendall E, See L (2011) The effectiveness of culturally appropriate interventions to manage or prevent chronic disease in culturally and linguistically diverse communities: a systematic literature review. Health Social Care Comm 19(3): 225–49.

Hoang HT, Le Q, Kilpatrick S (2009) Having a baby in the new land: a qualitative exploration of the experiences of Asian migrants in rural Tasmania, Australia. Rural Remote Health 9: 1084.

Li Z, Zeki R, Hilder L et al (2012) Australia’s Mothers and Babies 2010. Sydney: Australian Institute for Health and Welfare National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit.

Murray L, Windsor C, Parker E et al (2011) The experience of African women giving birth in Brisbane, Australia. Health Care Women Int 31(5): 458–72.

National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health (2010) Pregnancy and Complex Social Factors: A Model for Service Provision for Pregnant Women with Complex Social Factors. NICE Clinical Guidelines No. 110. London: RCOG Press.

Phiri J, Dietsch E, Bonner A (2010) Cultural safety and its importance for Australian midwifery practice. Collegian 17(3): 105–11.

Thomas P, Beckman M, Gibbons K (2010) The effect of cultural and linguistic diversity on pregnancy outcome. Aust NZ J Obstet Gynecol 50(5): 419–22.

Trinh LT & Rubin G (2006) Late entry to antenatal care in New South Wales, Australia. Reprod Health 18(3): 8.

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