Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

What is the issue: Canada has a health care system where all people can get maternity care. But some communities have better access to care than others. For example, newcomer women. Because, sometimes, they don't know how or where to find care. They don't understand the language. Or have no family or friend support. This creates a barrier to finding good care. So, we created a community team to plan a study. To understand newcomers' maternity care needs in Saskatchewan. We invited two newcomer women with experience in receiving maternity services. And community partners to advise the study. What we did to gather information: We had eighteen people say yes to participate in the study. We spoke to 8 pregnant newcomer women. We spoke to 7 doctors, nurses, midwives and 3 health leaders. The study started from May 2021 to March 2023. We used English to speak to the participants by video or telephone. We also used a language interpreter to speak with a newcomer woman who did not understand English. What the study showed: Our study showed that newcomer women experienced helpful and unhelpful things in care. The helpful things included having family or friends to go for medical appointments. Having a supportive care team. Getting a language interpreter. The unhelpful things were not knowing where to find a doctor. Covid-19 rules. Seeing a male doctor or an interpreter was a problem in discussing private maternity issues. The newcomers also felt like doctors and nurses did not listen to them. They wanted care that respected their culture. Our study also showed that sometimes providers did not understand newcomer's cultural needs. What we learned from this study: We learned the importance of focusing on solutions that fit newcomer women's care needs. This includes educating them on how and where to find a doctor. Teaching them about Canadian maternity services. Providers need to learn about cultural maternity needs. Doing this brings respect to newcomer's care choices.