Improving perinatal experiences for women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in South Australia

Mixed methods research to: develop culturally appropriate resources for culturally and linguistically diverse women accessing maternity services in SA. In partnership and co-designing with service users and community leaders, this will include 1) the development and piloting of a cultural safety plan for all women from CALD backgrounds. 2) the development of multi-modality information resources to inform CALD women about pregnancy health and wellbeing and caring for their infant, 3) assessment of the feasibility of developing a specialist antenatal clinic for these women.
Heath economic analyses will be a cross cutting theme through out the program of research.

Women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds are at risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, they are 5 times more likely to die than their white counterparts and 3 times more likely to experience baby death. The reasons for this are multifactorial and complex. Language barriers, difficulty navigating complex systems and other traditional and cultural barriers have been cited as contributory. Refugees and asylum seekers are doubly vulnerable as they are almost universally socioeconomically deprived and in addition to poverty, commonly experience poorly treated chronic health conditions and psychological trauma. Most of the available information about pregnancy is only available in English and often women from other countries do not have the literacy or health literacy skills in English to understand these. Simple translation is often inadequate. We aim to work with members of these communities to develop cultural safety plans for these women, co-design multi-modality resources, so information can be universally accessed and assess the possibility of developing an optional specialist clinic for women from CALD backgrounds in metropolitan maternity services.