Immigrant women's perceptions of their maternity care: a review of the literature part 1

Every year since 2004, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recorded increasing levels of immigration with nearly 600,000 immigrants entering the UK in 2011 (ONS 2012). More than 50 per cent of these immigrants were women. With this increasing immigration to the UK, a review of the literature was conducted to understand the experiences that immigrant women have when encountering the maternity services in the UK. Twelve quantitative and qualitative studies were included in the review, each approach contributing uniquely to our understanding of the subject area. Five themes were identified when the articles in the review were analysed. They were: communication, impediments to accessing healthcare, relationships with healthcare providers, cultural standpoint and social circumstances. The first two of those themes will be considered in this article.