‘Happy that someone cared’—Non-native-speaking immigrant mothers’ experiences of participating in screening for postpartum depression in the Swedish child health services

Malin Skoog, Vanja Berggren, Inger Kristensson Hallström

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Immigrant mothers who have immigrated during the last ten years and do not speak the language of the new country are found to be at particular risk of being affected by postpartum depression (PPD). Still they choose to participate to a lesser extent in screening for PPD and are not screened out as frequently as can be expected. In this study, non-native-speaking immigrant mothers’ experiences of participating in screening for PPD in the Swedish Child Health Services were elucidated. Thirteen qualitative interviews were performed with the help of an interpreter and analysed using latent content analysis. The possibility to participate in screening was appreciated by the mothers even though the concept of PPD in general was unclear. Cultural beliefs about mental ill health, negative expectations connected to their perceived value as a woman, shame at not being grateful enough for their new life and negative experience of the interaction during the screening challenged them in speaking about their mood. To facilitate the screening procedure for this vulnerable group of mothers, it is important to be aware of possible challenges when speaking about their mood and to strive for a trusting clinical interview with the assistance of a female interpreter on-site.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)118-130
    JournalJournal of Child Health Care
    Volume23
    Issue number1
    Early online date2018 Jan 1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

    Subject classification (UKÄ)

    • Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology

    Free keywords

    • Child health
    • culture and cultural issues
    • mother
    • nurse–family relationships
    • qualitative approaches

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