Developing multi-language maternal health education videos for refugee and migrant women in southeast Melbourne

In Australia, many women from refugee and migrant backgrounds experience significant health disparities and barriers to care and poor health literacy negatively influences their maternal and infant health outcomes. Improving health literacy improves these outcomes yet can be time consuming and difficult to provide within the confines of current models of maternity care.

Each year, more than 9000 women give birth across Monash Health's three maternity sites within one large public health service, located in Melbourne. Almost 60% of these women were born in non-English speaking countries and approximate 10% request the use of an interpreter at some point throughout their maternity experience. This project aimed to co-design animated videos focused on preconception, pregnancy, and postnatal care with women from refugee and migrant backgrounds.

The authors utilised previously prioritised maternity education needs as a starting point for design workshops undertaken with healthcare staff and women from the end-user communities. Over three workshops, sixteen healthcare staff volunteered to map or provide feedback on key touch points and barriers to quality, respectful care from the preconception period until six months postnatal. Arabic- and Dari-speaking women, led by bicultural educators, were all paid to user test these posters and the subsequently developed videos.

The process utilised within this project yielded five posters, four videos and four important recommendations in maternity care to incorporate in the education posters and videos, which both healthcare workers and the Arabic- and Dari-speaking women referenced at each mapping and user testing session. These included (1) explaining maternity care (appointment, tests, diet, medications etc.); (2) culturally informed models of care; (3) recognising the role of the support person; and (4) the impact of COVID-19 on health provision and access.

Maternal health literacy is a known predictor of perinatal outcomes. Globally, women report wanting more guidance and clearer understanding of what is taking place throughout their perinatal journey. This desire for knowledge is no different for women from non-English speaking backgrounds in Australia, though it may require more time and investment by health providers and educators. These posters and videos offer an attempt to support women, particularly women from refugee and migrant backgrounds, who require further healthcare explanations, to complement their current models of care, in a medium that is accessible and appropriate for them.