Abstract
Background:
Women account for over a quarter of UK asylum claims, with an estimated 13% already pregnant on arrival. Female asylum seekers have been consistently more likely to acquire leave to remain in the UK. Language difficulties, traumatic histories, cultural differences and limited financial support combine to make asylum seekers a subset of patients who pose challenges for healthcare providers. This project explored healthcare concerns of women seeking asylum, focusing on pregnancy and postnatal care. We assessed the women’s knowledge of services and whether they had effective access to healthcare.
Methods:
In 2017, eight refugee and asylum seeker women and three health professionals in Greater Manchester were interviewed. Independent interpreters were used where appropriate. Interview recordings were professionally transcribed and the resulting qualitative data analysed thematically.
Results:
The themes identified around barriers preventing engagement with healthcare included social isolation, poverty and lack of understanding of systems. Women reported cases of healthcare professionals failing to adhere to guidelines regarding appointment provision and interpreter use, leaving patients vulnerable to abuse. Current systems rely heavily on the initiative of individual practitioners to advocate for vulnerable patients, often above and beyond their initial remit.
Conclusions:
The care of migrant women is suffering because of a lack of adherence to guidelines. Women are not effectively supported to engage with services. Previous recommendations have been ignored. National guidelines must be updated to reflect the vulnerability of migrant women to postnatal depression. Implementation of guidance on interpreter use for patient safety must be strengthened. These results have informed the creation of a support group for refugee and asylum seeker mothers run by two Manchester charities.
Main messages:
Greater social support is required to facilitate integration, education and improved wellbeing. Healthcare professionals must commit to adhere to guidelines for the safety of their patients.
Women account for over a quarter of UK asylum claims, with an estimated 13% already pregnant on arrival. Female asylum seekers have been consistently more likely to acquire leave to remain in the UK. Language difficulties, traumatic histories, cultural differences and limited financial support combine to make asylum seekers a subset of patients who pose challenges for healthcare providers. This project explored healthcare concerns of women seeking asylum, focusing on pregnancy and postnatal care. We assessed the women’s knowledge of services and whether they had effective access to healthcare.
Methods:
In 2017, eight refugee and asylum seeker women and three health professionals in Greater Manchester were interviewed. Independent interpreters were used where appropriate. Interview recordings were professionally transcribed and the resulting qualitative data analysed thematically.
Results:
The themes identified around barriers preventing engagement with healthcare included social isolation, poverty and lack of understanding of systems. Women reported cases of healthcare professionals failing to adhere to guidelines regarding appointment provision and interpreter use, leaving patients vulnerable to abuse. Current systems rely heavily on the initiative of individual practitioners to advocate for vulnerable patients, often above and beyond their initial remit.
Conclusions:
The care of migrant women is suffering because of a lack of adherence to guidelines. Women are not effectively supported to engage with services. Previous recommendations have been ignored. National guidelines must be updated to reflect the vulnerability of migrant women to postnatal depression. Implementation of guidance on interpreter use for patient safety must be strengthened. These results have informed the creation of a support group for refugee and asylum seeker mothers run by two Manchester charities.
Main messages:
Greater social support is required to facilitate integration, education and improved wellbeing. Healthcare professionals must commit to adhere to guidelines for the safety of their patients.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | European Journal of Public Health |
| Volume | 28 |
| Early online date | 17 Apr 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 31 May 2018 |
Keywords
- pregnancy
- psychiatric hospital
- mothers
