Giving Birth in a Foreign Land: Exploring the Maternal Healthcare Experiences of Zimbabwean Migrant Women Living in Johannesburg, South Africa
Giving Birth in a Foreign Land: Exploring the Maternal Healthcare Experiences of Zimbabwean Migrant Women Living in Johannesburg, South Africa
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异国分娩：探索南非约翰内斯堡津巴布韦移民妇女的产妇保健经历
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发表时间：
2017
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通讯作者：
J. Vearey
中科院分区：
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作者：
Tackson Makandwa;J. Vearey
南非的孕产妇死亡率高得令人无法接受，迫切需要采取干预措施解决这一问题。虽然约翰内斯堡等城市中心是大量非本国移徙妇女的家园，但对她们的孕产妇保健经历知之甚少。为了为今后的研究提供信息，对居住在约翰内斯堡内城的移民妇女的孕产妇保健和求助经历进行了一项探索性研究。通过对15名在怀孕和分娩期间在约翰内斯堡公共医疗系统工作的津巴布韦妇女进行半结构化访谈，探讨了移民、孕产妇健康和城市生活之间的交叉点。访谈的主要内容是医疗保健提供者的言语虐待和接受护理的延误，特别是在分娩时。参与者将这些经历归因于他们使用英语，而不是其他南非语言；需要进一步将这一情况与各国国民的经验进行比较。除了医疗保健系统之外，研究表明，这些流动妇女的福祉受到城市生活和工作条件的影响：保持创收活动的机会优先于获得产前保健服务。津巴布韦移民妇女利用她们在该市的宗教和社会网络，在怀孕和分娩期间告知寻求帮助的决定。改善城市移民妇女的孕产妇保健经验应有助于降低南非的孕产妇死亡率。需要进一步的研究来为干预措施提供信息，以改善城市流动妇女的孕产妇健康，包括在生物医学医疗系统之外运作的城市健康的多重决定因素。
Maternal mortality in South Africa is unacceptably high, and interventions to address this are urgently needed. Whilst urban centres, such as Johannesburg, are home to significant numbers of non-national migrant women, little is known about their maternal healthcare experiences. In order to inform future research, an exploratory study investigating the maternal healthcare and help-seeking experiences of migrant women living in inner-city Johannesburg was undertaken. Intersections between migration, maternal health and life in the city were explored through semi-structured interviews with 15 Zimbabwean women who had engaged with the public healthcare system in Johannesburg during pregnancy and childbirth. Interviews were dominated by reports of verbal abuse from healthcare providers and delays in receiving care—particularly at the time of delivery. Participants attributed these experiences to their use of English—rather than other South African languages; further work comparing this with the experiences of nationals is required. Beyond the healthcare system, the study suggests that the well-being of these migrant women is compromised by their living and working conditions in the city: maintaining access to income-generating activities is prioritised over accessing antenatal care services. Migrant Zimbabwean women make use of their religious and social networks in the city to inform help-seeking decisions during pregnancy and delivery. Improving the maternal healthcare experiences of urban migrant women should contribute to reducing maternal mortality in South Africa. Further research is required to inform interventions to improve the maternal health of migrant women in the city, including the multiple determinants of urban health that operate outside the biomedical healthcare system.