Somali Immigrant Women’s Health Care Experiences and Beliefs Regarding Pregnancy and Birth in the United States

Abstract

Implications include cultural competency workshops. Educational materials and prenatal education sessions that support the women's needs have been developed for this population and should be a focus of future research.

How do ethnic minority patients experience the intercultural care encounter in hospitals? A systematic review of qualitative research

“…They remember the death of beloved ones on the way to the hospital or in surgery due to a lack of transportation, hospital infrastructure and resources in the country of origin [40, 61, 70, 75]. In their own communities, migrant women share the knowledge that giving birth is a natural process which might last for hours and might be a balance between life and death [40, 42, 55, 60, 70, 71, 76]. This shared knowledge, previous experiences of natural or complicated deliveries in the country of origin, previous traumas as well as painful memories of their own circumcision might revive in present hospital care [38, 40, 47, 55, 56, 61, 69–71, 75].…”

“…Due to this history, many patients appreciate the high standard of care in the safe environment of the new country [41, 45, 47, 52, 61, 70, 77]. Nevertheless, it is also this history that leads to patients’ fear of long-term health consequences when they are unable to follow their own traditions or rushed into their labour as well as fear of dying from treatments such as a caesarean section [40, 55, 56, 61, 69, 71, 75, 76]. Here, a difference in meaning is caused by patients’ preference for a natural delivery and their fear of dying from the clinical treatment and the caregivers’ wish to prevent death by the same treatment from a medicalized point of view [55, 75].…”

“…Patients’ reviving memories and knowledge, their lack of knowledge regarding medical procedures, their fear about the medical treatment and their feeling that the treatment will not be effective, all might lead to the resistance or refusal of specific treatments [42, 55, 68, 75, 76]. …”

Addressing Behavioral Health Disparities for Somali Immigrants Through Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Led by Community Health Workers

“…We strove to deliver this intervention in ways that were culturally compatible and to build capacity in the community to address mental health within the community. As a result, we saw much enthusiasm for sharing this CBT intervention further within the community, despite the widely reported stigma in the community towards mental illness 12,13,34 . Participants described actively sharing the skills they learned in the classes with family and friends.…”

“…Somali refugees experience barriers in accessing services that include distrust of authorities, stigma around mental health services, and linguistic or cultural barriers 11 . There are high levels of stigma around addressing mental health in the Somali community 3 and therefore a lack of culturally options to address such concerns 12 . Concerns about emotional health may become what one study focusing on Somali women described as "silent worries," as women deal with unexpressed loss and distress 13 , alongside high levels of previous exposure to trauma 14 .…”