Cultural competence and awareness of healthcare workers providing care for pregnant migrant women
Citation: Shorey S, Ng E, Downe S. Cultural competence and experiences of maternity health care providers on care for migrant women: A qualitative meta‐synthesis. Birth. 2021;48(4):458-69.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: No.
Funding sources: Nothing noted.
What is this? One of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to reduce global healthcare inequity and maternal and infant mortality rates in marginalized populations. Adequate provision of maternity care for migrants and minority ethnic groups relies heavily on the cultural competence of healthcare providers.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for qualitative or mixed-methods studies of the views and experiences of maternity care providers providing care for migrant women as a way of exploring their cultural competency. They did not restrict their searches by date or language of publication and did the search in February 2021. They included 11 studies, reflecting the experiences of 295 midwives and other providers of maternity care. The studies were conducted in Australia (1 study), Canada (2), Greece (1), Ireland (1), Norway (2), Sweden (3), Switzerland (1).
What was found: The included studies showed a need for improvements in how maternity care providers obtain information from pregnant and conduct physical assessments in a culturally appropriate manner.
Although some healthcare providers were culturally aware of traditional family hierarchy and involvement in decision-making, the broad application of these assumptions may mean that maternity staff do not adequately examine the need for extra support, particularly when there are language barriers.
Using healthcare interpreters is more likely to prevent medical errors than using family members.
Implications: The authors of the review concluded that improving the quality of maternity care for migrant communities will require healthcare organizations, healthcare providers, policymakers and researchers to work together to develop and implement more culturally relevant maternity care policies and management interventions.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of culture and language, socioeconomic status and personal characteristics associated with discrimination (migrants).
This summary was prepared by Nhi Luu, edited by Sydney Johnson and finalized by Lucy Turner.
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