Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
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Childbirth in Exile: Refugee and Asylum Seeking Women’s
Experience of Childbirth in Ireland
Carolyn Tobin RGN RM RNT MA PgD. CHSE Dip Health Science
Doctoral Student (TCD); Research Fellow (HRB)
ctobin@tcd.ie
Focus of Presentation:
Draws from the research findings and the reflexivity of the
researcher to highlight the vulnerabilities of the participants as they
struggle to articulate and present their experience of childbirth
within a foreign culture.
Background and literature
The experience of giving birth is greatly affected and predetermined
by the culture in which a woman has been socialised (Steinberg
1996). For women, displaced from their country and culture, it is
even more crucial that they experience care during childbirth that is
sensitive to their needs. Immigration and asylum seeking have
become important social phenomena in Ireland since the mid
1990s. Whilst a number of research studies have been
commissioned to investigate the needs of refugees and asylum
seekers in Ireland (Begley, et al. 1991; Fanning, et al. 2000;
Kennedy and Murphy-Lawless, 2003; Visser and O’Connor, 2004),
much of the focus of these studies tended to be on practical needs
such as accommodation, housing and lack of income. More
importantly, the voice of the women themselves is largely absent
from the published reports.
Aims:
To explore the physical, emotional and social experiences of refugee
and asylum seeking women during pregnancy and childbirth in
Ireland.
To make these experiences visible through the inclusion of the voice
of refugee and asylum seeking women.
Methodology
A qualitative descriptive approach drawing from a feminist
paradigm, allowed for the inclusion of the women’s voice.
Participants were drawn from women attending two maternity
hospitals in Ireland. Women participated in an exploratory
workshop prior to data collection to ensure collaboration in the
proposed study design and data collection methods. Data were
collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data
analysis utilised manual data analysis and the use of NUDIST
computer software.
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