"There has to be a change in the health care system": Postpartum experiences of immigrant first-time mothers

Maternal and infant well-being is a global priority. In Canada, the cultural needs of immigrant mothers are often inadequately addressed. In this study we sought to understand how immigrant first-time mothers experience the postpartum period in Canada.

Guided by feminist poststructuralism, we conducted 60-minute semi-structured interviews via telephone and Zoom© with six South Asian immigrant first-time mothers in Ottawa, Canada. Using feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis, we deconstructed textual data from interviews to understand how power relations, identities, and discourses related to postpartum experiences.

We present one of the three themes - Negotiating Expectations and Realities of Postpartum Care: 'You expect a higher level of care' and its three corresponding subthemes: 1) Healthcare Providers and Health care Services: 'You can't rush out patients who are not feeling well'; 2) Maternal Follow-Up Care: 'She refused to see me at six weeks'; and 3) Self-Care and Information Access: 'It took me a week to find.'

Participants experienced a disconnect between their expectations for comprehensive, supportive postpartum care and the fragmented, inconsistent services available. The findings illustrate how systemic issues such as staffing shortages constrain postpartum support for immigrant families. The study highlights the need for collaborative care models that meet the needs of diverse immigrant populations.

With Canada's growing immigrant population, postpartum care must attend to intersecting cultural and gendered needs of new mothers. Culturally safe, gender-inclusive care practices can empower midwives and nurses to lead relevant guidelines, policies, and research development.