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

Abstract

BACKGROUND OR CONTEXT: refugee and asylum seekers are over represented in maternal death data. Many asylum seeking and refugee women access maternity care infrequently, or not at all. Little is known about the role of voluntary sector workers in supporting pregnant refugees and asylum seekers.

Objective: to explore the experiences of voluntary sector workers supporting asylum seeking and refugee women during pregnancy and early motherhood.

Design: a qualitative descriptive study.

Setting and participants: individual and focus group interviews in three large urban centres in North West England, United Kingdom.

Findings: two main themes emerged. 'Literally through hell and back' reflected the experiences of suffering, abuse and loss recounted to the volunteers by many of the women they work with. ׳Bridging the unacknowledged gap' related to the invisible processes undertaken by the workers as they enable the women they work with to over come their marginalised position. This included the difficulties of transience, and lack of enculturation, and to support them in accessing maternity care.

Conclusion: voluntary sector workers supporting asylum seeking and refugee women strongly identified with the extreme suffering experienced by many of the women they work with. Through this contact, they become acutely aware of the gaps in provision for such women, and developed unique and innovative approaches to bridge this gap. These findings highlight the need for maternity health system to actively collaborate with, and learn from, voluntary agencies working in this field to improve the support offered to asylum seeking and refugee women.

Keywords: Asylum; Culture; Pregnant; Refugee; Social support; Voluntary.