TY - JOUR

T1 - “No Papers. No Doctor”

T2 - A Qualitative Study of Access to Maternity Care Services for Undocumented Immigrant Women in Denmark

AU - Funge, Julia Kadin

AU - Boye, Mathilde Christine

AU - Johnsen, Helle

AU - Nørredam, Marie

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - The purpose of this study is to explore undocumented immigrant women’s experiences of, as well as their access to, maternity care services during pregnancy in Denmark. Recruiting through the two branches of a non-governmental organization (NGO)-driven health clinic in Denmark, we conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with undocumented immigrant women in Denmark from January 2018 to January 2019. The undocumented immigrant women experienced barriers such as fear of deportation, concerns about payment for services, and uncertainties about rules for access. Many of them described depending on NGO-driven initiatives to access maternity care services and found these as providing a safe environment for care. Our findings contribute insights towards understanding the health behavior of undocumented immigrant women and highlight the need for inclusive care to safeguard the health of the women and their children.

AB - The purpose of this study is to explore undocumented immigrant women’s experiences of, as well as their access to, maternity care services during pregnancy in Denmark. Recruiting through the two branches of a non-governmental organization (NGO)-driven health clinic in Denmark, we conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with undocumented immigrant women in Denmark from January 2018 to January 2019. The undocumented immigrant women experienced barriers such as fear of deportation, concerns about payment for services, and uncertainties about rules for access. Many of them described depending on NGO-driven initiatives to access maternity care services and found these as providing a safe environment for care. Our findings contribute insights towards understanding the health behavior of undocumented immigrant women and highlight the need for inclusive care to safeguard the health of the women and their children.

KW - Childbirth

KW - Maternity care

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Undocumented immigrant

KW - Utilization of maternity care

U2 - 10.3390/ijerph17186503

DO - 10.3390/ijerph17186503

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 32906698

AN - SCOPUS:85090614504

VL - 17

JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

SN - 1661-7827

IS - 18

M1 - 6503

ER -