gms | German Medical Science

Background: Pregnant women without German language skills face crucial barriers to optimal obstetric care due to communication difficulties and lack of knowledge of the health care system. To overcome such problems, an interpreted antenatal course offer has been developed. In seven sessions, it provides information about becoming a parent, the Swiss health care system, and further services after the postpartum period. Currently, the class is being multiplied in other cantons in a project financed by third parties and this dissemination as well as the financial assurance are being evaluated.

Objective: To present the effectiveness of the antenatal class for the participants.

Methodology: The evaluation of the multiplication project includes a total of six modules. In the planned contribution, two of them will be presented: a) focus group discussions with a total of n=12 participants, which were conducted with intercultural translators, audio recorded, transcribed ad verbatim and analysed according to Mayring and b) structured observations of a total of n=7 antenatal classes based on specified criteria, such as proportion of bodywork, the achievement of the intercultural communication, interaction between course leaders and translators, empowerment of participants, their needs as well as the course leadership process. The data were analysed descriptively.

Results: The focus group interviews were conducted with Tamil-, Arabic- and Dari-speaking women. They evaluated the class very positively, emphasizing the helpful support for navigating the foreign health care system and the positive impact on their psychological wellbeing. The bodywork offered them supportive activities to overcome pregnancy complaints, which seemed beneficial for their physical and mental health. The participants felt well prepared for the birth and knew that they did not have to go to the hospital immediately after labour onset. If several women spoke the same language, the course also helped them to connect with each other. The course observations revealed culturally competent course instructors and very interested, attentive as well as active course participants. Indirect communication and parallel discussions between the course participants and the intercultural translators sometimes seemed challenging. In addition, variations in course delivery were observed at the different sites, although all had built upon the same concept. In particular, the proportion of bodywork diverged significantly between the offers.

Relevance: The antenatal class is considered very useful and obviously appreciated by the interviewed and observed course participants. It strengthens their health literacy, prepares them well for childbirth, and increases their confidence and knowledge so they can embrace the new stage of their lives.

Conclusions: Although the accessibility of the families relates to a large effort, such antenatal class takes up a role model function for pregnant women without German knowledge. By disseminating the offer, more women and their families will benefit from it. The class also facilitates midwifery care around the birth.

Ethics and conflicts of interest: A vote on ethics was not necessary. Currently, the class is being multiplied in other cantons in a project financed by third parties and this dissemination as well as the financial assurance are being evaluated. There are no conflicts of interest.

The PDF file of the poster submitted for the meeting is available in German as Attachment 1 [Attach. 1].