Abstract
BackgroundMaternity health care available in Canada is based on the needs of women born in Canada and often lacks the flexibility to meet the needs of immigrant women. The purpose of this study was to explore immigrant Chinese women’s experiences in accessing maternity care, the utilization of maternity health services, and the obstacles they perceived in Canada.MethodsThis descriptive phenomenology study used in-depth semi-structured interviews to examine immigrant Chinese women’s experiences. Fifteen participants were recruited from the Chinese community in Toronto, Canada by using purposive sampling. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim into written Chinese. The transcripts were analyzed using Colaizzi’s (1978) phenomenological method.ResultsSix themes were extracted from the interviews: (1) preference for linguistically and culturally competent healthcare providers, with obstetricians over midwives, (2) strategies to deal with the inconvenience of the Canadian healthcare system (3) multiple resources to obtain pregnancy information, (4) the merits of the Canadian healthcare system, (5) the need for culturally sensitive care, and (6) the emergence of alternative supports and the use of private services.ConclusionsThe findings provide new knowledge and understanding of immigrant Chinese women’s experiences in accessing maternity health services within a large metropolitan Canadian city. Participants described two unique experiences within the themes: preference for linguistically and culturally competent healthcare providers, with obstetricians over midwives, and the emergence of alternative supports and the use of private services. Few studies of immigrant maternity service access have identified these experiences which may be linked to cultural difference. Further investigation with women from different cultural backgrounds is needed to develop a comprehensive understanding of immigrant women’s experiences with maternity care.
Highlights
Maternity care available in Canada is largely based on the needs of women born in Canada and often lacks the flexibility required to meet the needs of immigrant women [1,2,3,4]
The purpose of this study was to explore immigrant Chinese women’s experiences in accessing and utilizing maternity health services, and the barriers they perceived in getting care in Toronto, a large Canadian metropolitan city in which 40% of the population is born outside of Canada [13]
The following six major themes emerged from the findings: (1) preference for linguistically and culturally competent healthcare providers, with obstetricians over midwives, (2) strategies to deal with the inconvenience of the Canadian healthcare system, (3) multiple resources to obtain pregnancy information, (4) the merits of the Canadian healthcare system, (5) the need for culturally sensitive care, and (6) the emergence of alternative supports and the use of private services
Summary
Maternity health care available in Canada is based on the needs of women born in Canada and often lacks the flexibility to meet the needs of immigrant women. The purpose of this study was to explore immigrant Chinese women’s experiences in accessing maternity care, the utilization of maternity health services, and the obstacles they perceived in Canada. Maternity care available in Canada is largely based on the needs of women born in Canada and often lacks the flexibility required to meet the needs of immigrant women [1,2,3,4]. According to the 2011 National Household survey, there are over 1,324,700 Chinese immigrants living in Canada. They make up 21.1% of the visible minorities living in Canada [13]. Little attention has been paid to migrant health in general [2]
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