A local study of childbearing Bangladeshi women in the UK.

OBJECTIVE to examine the circumstances, experiences and needs of a local sample of low-income, childbearing women of Bangladeshi origin in the UK. DESIGN qualitative interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain the interviewees’ own accounts of the period around the birth of a baby. SETTING a deprived area in the City of Leeds in the North of England. PARTICIPANTS nine women of Bangladeshi origin who were pregnant or had a baby under 1 year of age were interviewed as part of a larger study of the needs and experiences of 52 low-income, childbearing women. The nine women were recruited from a neighbourhood project set up to respond to the needs of Sylheti-speaking women with limited English fluency in the area. FINDINGS the women’s constrained material circumstances limit their access to resources, services and good health. This is related to their limited education, qualifications and English fluency. The lack of an adequate income particularly affects families with new babies. However, their relatively positive experiences of maternity care and benefit claim, compared with women with similar characteristics in other studies, may be related to access to advice, support and concrete help offered by the neighbourhood project. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE social and health research, policy and practice might address information and support needs of low-income Bangladeshi women around the birth of a baby, and systematically take forward the idea of providing and evaluating integrated services, language support and advocacy between voluntary and state agencies.