Key considerations: maternity services

The cultural assessment tools provided in this section will assist maternal health providers to better understand the CALD women’s background and past experiences and to incorporate cultural traditions into standard clinical practice during pregnancy, birth and postnatal care.

When using these assessments, it is important to explain to women the following reasons for asking these questions:

• Maternity service providers need to be aware that there is the potential for misunderstanding and miscommunication when a woman is from a CALD background. Women’s expectations of care during the antenatal, birth and the postnatal period may differ considerably in home countries from the services available in New Zealand. This may lead to disappointment and frustration for the woman and her family if the NZ system of maternal health care is not explained.
• Culture and religion play a major role in the way a woman and her family perceive and prepare for birth. Each culture has its own values, beliefs and practices related to pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. Women and their families may consider it important to adhere to traditional pregnancy and birth practices.
• It is important that midwives acknowledge and show respect for womens’ cultural and religious practices, although they may disagree with traditional practices. It is best to work alongside women and family members to discourage the use of potentially harmful traditional practices, while endorsing those which have health and psychosocial benefits. This approach is most likely to build trust and rapport between the midwife and other maternity service providers and the woman and her family.
• Some women from migrant and refugee backgrounds may have had limited family planning education and may be unaware of the types of contraception available to them in New Zealand. In resettlement societies, where larger families are less easy to support, there is greater awareness of the need for family planning. Discuss with the woman options for contraceptive methods that are culturally or religiously acceptable? It is important to respect the woman’s cultural attitudes and beliefs surrounding family planning.