Background: Traditional patterns relating to how to handle pregnancy and birth are
often challenged due to migration. The purpose of this study was to describe Middle
Eastern mothers’ experiences of the maternal health care services in Sweden and the
involvement of their male partner.
Methods: Thirteen immigrant mothers from the Middle East who had used the
maternal health services in Sweden were interviewed using focus group discussions and
individual interviews. These were taped, transcribed and analysed according to Content
analysis.
Results: The four main categories that developed were:
• Access to the professional midwife
• Useful counselling
• Stable motherhood in transition
• Being a family living in a different culture
Conclusion:
According to the respondents in this study, understanding the woman’s native language
or her culture was not vital to develop a good relationship with the midwife. Instead the
immigrant woman developed trust in the midwife based on the knowledge and the
empathy the midwife imparted.
Increasing the amount of first trimester antenatal visits could avoid spontaneous visits
to the emergency clinic. There was a greater need for involvement and support by the
father during the perinatal period, such as caring for older children and carrying out
household chores since the mothers’ earlier female network was often lost.
Clinical implicationsThere is a need to involve immigrant parents in the available parental education in
order to prepare them for parenthood in their new country as well as to explore their
altered family situation. Collecting immigrant women and their partner’s, experiences
of maternal health care services offers a possibility to improve the existing care, both in
content, access and availability where the timing of visits and content require further
evaluation