Non-Indigenous women’s experiences of obstetric and gynaecological inequity in rural and remote South Australia: A feminist post-structuralist analysis

Background: Women and people with uteruses (“women”) living in rural and remote areas face inequitable access to obstetric and gynaecological (OB-GYN) health services.

Objectives: This research aimed to understand how women experience and navigate access to OB-GYN health care in rural and remote settings.

Design: A phenomenological design was utilised to examine women’s lived experiences of OB-GYN services. To cultivate a critical feminist standpoint, the researchers then applied a feminist post-structuralist framework, which reflexively attends to the interplay of power, discourse, gender, and geography in lived experience.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 women living in rural and remote South Australia between September 2022 and January 2023. An iterative, open-coding, thematic analysis was chosen by researchers to synthesise the findings whilst retaining the richness of the data.

Results: Four themes were identified. First, access was difficult due to systemic power imbalances. Second, continuity of care was built upon intersubjectivity. Third, health literacy was key to informed consent, choice, and control. Last, shared knowledge translation redefined OB-GYN health services.

Conclusion: The systematic othering of women and inequitable rural resourcing together produce health and power inequities for rural South Australians with uteruses, denying their experiences and bodily autonomy.