Newcomer Women's Experiences with Perinatal Care During the Three-Month Health Insurance Waiting Period in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Background The three-month health insurance waiting period in Ontario reinforces health inequities for newcomer women and their babies. Little is known about the systemic factors that shape newcomer women's experiences during the OHIP waiting period. Purpose To examine the factors that shaped newcomer women's experiences with perinatal care during the three-month health insurance waiting period in Ontario, Canada. Methods This qualitative study was informed by an intersectional framework, and guided by a critical ethnographic method. Individual interviews were conducted with four newcomer women and three perinatal healthcare professionals. Participant observations at recruitment and interview sites were integral to the study design. Results The key systemic factors that shaped newcomer women's experiences with perinatal care included social identity, migration, and the healthcare system. Social identities related to gender, race, and socio-economic status intersected to form a social location, which converged with newcomer women's experiences of social isolation and exclusion. These experiences, in turn, intersected with Ontario's problematic perinatal health services. Together, these factors form systems of oppression for newcomer women in the perinatal period. Conclusions Given the health inequities that can result from these systems of oppression, it is important to adopt an upstream approach that is informed by the Human Rights Code of Ontario to improve accessibility to and the experiences of perinatal care for newcomer women.