Sammendrag
Abstract
Background: The last 50 years have seen a significant increase in both the childbearing age and diversity of women migrating to Norway. The Norwegian health care system may be well organized and equipped to diagnose and treat diseases common to native people, however it may not be prepared to meet the specific needs of particular immigrant groups. Maternal health care must be designed to meet the needs of all women in society in order to ensure fair access to services and address health inequalities. The migration of Filipinos to Norway has become more feminized, but studies on their experience in accessing maternal health care are scarce. Knowing more about the experiences of Filipino immigrant women in accessing maternal health care can aid the Norwegian health care system to provide Filipino immigrant women with excellent quality care and improve their integration process in Norway.
Purpose: The purpose is to explore experiences of Filipino immigrant women of pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care in Norway.
Design and methods: A qualitative study with a constructivist grounded theory approach. In total eighteen Filipino immigrant women living in Trondheim and Støren Norway, participated in four focus group discussions.
Conclusion: The core category was identified as experiencing transitions. Three key categories relating to experiences of Filipino immigrant women of pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care in Norway emerged from the data. These were: Category I: Experiencing Norwegian maternal health care, Category II: Learning from negative experiences, and Category III: Achieving Social Integration.
Keywords: maternal health care, immigrants, qualitative research, Norway