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(Expressen) New profession: Cultural intercourse for pregnant new arrivals

Posted by: Semere Asmelash

Date: Saturday, 16 February 2019

New profession: Cultural intercourse for pregnant new arrivals

Published Feb 15, 2019 at 15.48

In a book, Mical Haile has translated medical concepts into the tigrinya.Photo: ALEX LJUNGDAHL

Newly arrived women are at greater risk of complications during their pregnancy and childbirth.

Now special doulas who speak their home language will turn the trend around.

- I myself was pregnant when I came to Sweden and lacked support, says doulan Mical Haile.

ince May last year, Mical Haile, 42, has been involved in ten deliveries. Common to the mothers she helps is that they are new in Sweden, and many come from the Micals homeland Eritrea. 

Being newly arrived and pregnant means that you are at greater risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, reports reports from the National Board of Health and Welfare. The explanation is partly about a combination of language crimes and ignorance about care within the group.

To break the trend, the project "Doula and cultural interpreter" was started last year in Stockholm County, inspired by a similar initiative in Gothenburg. The results will then be evaluated by researchers at the Karolinska Institute.

- I was pregnant myself in the sixth month when I came to Sweden, so I know how it feels. I lacked the support of a mother or sister, and became worried when I did not understand what doctors and midwives said to each other, says cultural interpreter dancer Mical Haile.


Mical Haile was advised to train to doula by a friend who is a midwife. Since May last year, she has helped ten newly arrived women with their births.Photo: ALEX LJUNGDAHL

Doula helps new arrivals

The new mother Akberet lives in the Stockholm suburb of Vårby. She fled Eritrea in the fall of 2015 and waited for her first child when she met Mical this summer.

The Doulan became a bonus mom to turn to with questions in the language of the Tigrinya.

- I got a lot of support from Mical during pregnancy and the fear that I had previously released. She gave advice on how to prepare myself and during childbirth she helped me as a mother would do, says Akberet.

Akberet rocks her little girl in her arms. She has previously worked at preschool and says that she would like to continue working with children. During the maternity leave she reads SFI but is still uncertain about the Swedish, and Mical translates won during the conversation.

It has been fifteen years since Mical came to Sweden with her husband and daughter. In Eritrea she worked as a teacher in Italian and the interest in language has been useful when she now interprets her future mothers.

Paid by the county council

Cultural interpreters are hourly employees of the association Mira, which runs the project on behalf of the Healthcare Administration. Besides being part of the birth, four compulsory meetings with the family are included: Two during pregnancy and two afterwards. They build trust and change experiences.

- Sometimes we meet privately too, for example, I was on her baptism, says Mical Haile.

Some cultural clashes have arisen during her scarce years as a doula. The epidural is unusual in Eritrea and she says that many are afraid of complications from the back anesthesia.

According to Eritrean tradition, a new mother must also be home for 80 days if you get a girl and 40 days if it becomes a boy. In the meantime, she is courted with great courage - something that rarely becomes reality as new and sometimes entirely alone in Sweden.

The fact that the doulas meet the women even after giving birth is an appreciated support.

- No one should have to feel alone, insecure and stressed, neither during or after pregnancy, says Mical Haile.

"Feel stronger"

She has a couple of assignments as a doula every month and studies in parallel to a medical secretary "because it is a lack of strength". She has previously worked as a personal assistant.

- The best thing about being a doula is to help other women. I develop by the job and feel stronger every day, says Mical Haile.

- Who knows, I might get to study further to midwife after this.

Akberet says she felt less nervous about childbirth after meeting the doulan Mical. Now her daughter is five months old.Photo: ALEX LJUNGDAHL

 

DOULA

The word comes from Greek and can be translated into a servant. Doula is a non-medical person who supports a birth woman and her potential partner during childbirth, both emotionally and physically as needed, for example, by giving advice on positions, breathing and massage. The phenomenon has a long tradition but is still relatively unusual in Sweden.

 20 percent of all first-time mothers feel fear of childbirth, and the figure is twice as high in foreign-born women, a study from last year shows. 

 In addition to the role of doula, a cultural interpreter can translate more subtle expressions that an ordinary interpreter might not have explained to the woman's mother tongue. 

"Research shows that a woman who has continuous support from a person she feels safe with during childbirth gets a better experience. It can also have a positive effect on the medical outcome, ”says Anna Jensen, midwife and project manager for the initiative in Stockholm County. 

The association Mira carries out an extensive recruitment process for those who seek the role of doula and cultural interpreter. Those who are employed then undergo a compulsory education for eight days in order to learn more about pregnancy and childbirth, the assignment of care and above all: ways and strategies to provide support.

Today, they have 30 active doulas who speak 20 languages. According to Anna Jensen, the project is a "win-win" situation because many of the women who work as a cultural interpreter do feel stronger by the role and read on to different care professions or interpreters.


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