Abstract
Objectives
To consolidate the available evidence around ethnic minority women’s experiences and
needs when accessing maternity care.
Methods
A qualitative systematic review and meta-aggregation of qualitative data were conducted.
Nine electronic databases were searched for qualitative or mixed-methods studies from
the inception of each database until January 2022. Using the Nested-Knowledge software,
meta-aggregation was conducted according to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) data
synthesis approach to identify all potential intersections between different themes.
Methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the JBI Qualitative
Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-QARI) and the mixed-methods appraisal tool (MMAT)
checklists for qualitative and mixed-methods studies, respectively.
Results
Twenty-two studies (nineteen qualitative and three mixed-methods) were included. All
studies were of good methodological quality. An overarching theme ‘the struggles and
fears of ethnic minority women’ was identified. The negative experiences with maternity
care were attributed to barriers including ineffective communication, cultural and
religious insensitivity, inattentiveness and disregard for women’s needs, and isolation-related
impact due to the COVID pandemic.
Conclusions
Overall, our review highlighted several significant gaps between the care provided
and the expected care among ethnic minority women accessing maternity care services.
This mismatch between their expectations and care resulted in negative experiences,
as the women reported being discriminated against and disrespected. There is an urgent
need to develop and implement maternity care policies that are inclusive of needs
of the ethnic minority women to optimize their maternity care experience.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 15, 2022
Accepted:
June 8,
2022
Received in revised form:
May 13,
2022
Received:
April 4,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
