Pregnancy and Childbirth Experiences of Chinese Marriage Immigrant Women

Abstract

Objectives: This study was done to identify and to describe the experiences of pregnancy and childbirth of Chinese marriage immigrant women. Methods: The participants were 13 Chinese married immigrant women who became pregnant and gave birth within the last six years. Data was collected by focus group interviews and face-to- face in-depth interview with Korean Chinese and Han Chinese. Data was analyzed using Colaizzi's method of phenomenology. Results: Five theme clusters were extracted as follows: 'Running in to double troubles in a strange environment', 'Relying, but becoming lonely and facing difficulties', 'Partially changing and applying traditional culture of pregnancy and childbirth', 'Gaining the joy of life beyond loneliness', 'Suffering less thanks to the expansion of supporting resources'. Conclusions: The results of this study can be used to develop a program that can provide Chinese immigrant women with childbirth education before marriage and prenatal and postpartum manage- ment and to train culturally sensitive nursing skills.