Abstract
Objectives: Deafness affects about 7% of the French population. In this context, the clinic of obstetrics and gynecology of Grenoble University Hospital (France) has set up two affirmative action’s to assist pregnant signingdeaf patients (who preferentially “speak” sign language). One is, a partnership with qualified French Sign Language interpreters from the Deaf Patient Reception and Care Unit, and the second is, sign language training for nine medical professionals. The aim of this study is to evaluate these initiatives in deaf patient care and propose some potential improvements. Material and methods: This was a descriptive study conducted from information contained in the computerized and paper files of 22 pregnant signaling deaf patients. Results: There is significant adaptation of patient management during scheduled consultations and hospitalization, whereas the adaptation rate remains poor for emergency situations. Conclusion: The adaptation of care to the deaf turns out to be perfectible, through advance planning of the entire pregnancy consultation schedule. In emergency situations, the creation of a sign language interpreter on-call position would greatly improve the access to appropriate for these patients.
Highlights
Severe deafness affects 480,000 people in France [1]
83.1% of obstetric consultations, 43.4% of ultrasound examinations, and 63.6% of anesthesia consultations and post natal visits were carried out by or with suitable staff
The percentage of consultations conducted with an interpreter was 65.3% of obstetric consultations, 35.7% of ultrasound examinations, 68.7% of anesthesia consultations and 50% of postnatal visits
Summary
Severe deafness affects 480,000 people in France [1]. Those becoming deaf (about 200,000 people) and the hard of hearing (again about 200,000 people) use, without exception, only spoken French. The profoundly deaf from birth or early childhood (80,000 to 100,000 people), who define themselves as “Deaf” are mostly bilingual, using French (written or oral) to varying degrees, and sign language as their main language (or language of life). The hard of hearing and those becoming deaf have no particular difficulty with written French. The choice of the language to be used during care, French or sign language, is up to the patients themselves [4] It is the duty of caregivers to ensure the necessary linguistic conditions, whatever the patient’s choice of language [5]
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