Page 22 - Non-western women in maternity care in the Netherlands • Exploring ‘inadequate’ use of prenatal care and the experiences of care professionals

and she didn’t have anything at home. So we had to fill cola bottles with warm water and wrap them in clothes to keep the baby warm. She didn’t have anything. She did not have a chair, nor absorbent nappies. Luckily we had spares of everything in our car. And she gave birth on the floor. It went beautifully, the birth was beautiful, but the contrast was huge. (R13)
Well, because that population [low socioeconomic status] requires much more collaboration. It requires more collaboration with other disciplines such as social work, gynaecologists and GPs. And that’s difficult, because there are an awful lot [of disciplines]. (R12)
Being confronted with different cultural values
Pressure from the family. Midwives reported close involvement of the families, with the exception of refugees and asylum seekers who often do not have many family members around. This is especially apparent during the postnatal period, when family members come to stay with the new mother and take over domestic chores. As well as taking over domestic chores, the family also gives a lot of advice and information to the new mother. Most of this advice is culturally based and innocent enough, but in a few cases it can contradict the advice of healthcare professionals. In these instances, it is not always easy for midwives to convince the clients and their families about the potential hazards of certain practices.
And then I said, ‘no, no, you really shouldn’t do that’. The mother- in-law didn’t understand Dutch, and so I said to the mother, ‘You must absolutely not do this. It is very dangerous’, and I explained the danger to her. Then they called me at night. ‘Help, the child...’ They had indeed given honey to the baby. Yeah. . . that happens sometimes. The mother in law, the way she looked at me. . . She looked at me like: you’re not telling me anything, I’m older than you are, you don’t have to tell me what’s wise. I could see it in her eyes. You can feel that you’re not being taken seriously. (R1)
Strong preference for physicians. Although Dutch midwives are autonomous medical practitioners, qualified to provide full maternity care under their own responsibility to all women with an uncomplicated pregnancy and childbirth, many midwives recognised a strong belief in physicians among
138 Non-western women in maternity care in the Netherlands