Globe-Trotting
Mamas: A Study on Transnational Maternity Care Practices
I'm Meghann Ormond, Assistant Professor in Cultural Geography at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, and I'm carrying out a study called 'Globe-Trotting Mamas'. For the last decade, my research has focused mainly on transnational care practices. Basically, I’m interested in how transnationally-mobile people make use of different health and social care resources across time and space to meet their evolving physical and emotional needs (Kemp et al. 2013).
What is this study about?
My new study focuses on women who have migrated/expatriated that have been pregnant and given birth outside of their countries of origin. For this study, I’m looking specifically at women's transnational care practices during the period that includes pregnancy, birth and post-natal recovery.
In order to understand how women who have migrated/expatriated make sense and use of their home and settlement countries’ and regions’ varied economic, social and political configurations to support their health and quality of life during this period of time, I am looking for perspectives and experiences from two groups:
- Women who have migrated/expatriated that have been pregnant and given birth outside of their countries of origin and who currently live in the Netherlands ;
- Providers of antenatal, birth and postnatal care for women who have migrated/expatriated and are living and working in areas of the Netherlands with significant and/or growing foreign populations (e.g., Amsterdam, Eindhoven, The Hague, Leiden, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Wageningen).
You are invited to share your perspectives and experiences! If you are (or if you know someone else who might be) interested in contributing to my study, please get in touch with me by email (meghann.ormond [at] wur.nl). Interviews can be done in English, French or Portuguese.
What does participation in this study require of you?
If you fulfil the above criteria and decide to take part in the research study, you will be asked to participate in a face-to-face interview that will take approximately 2-3 hours of your time.
- If you have made use of pregnancy, birth and postpartum recovery care services in countries outside of your country of origin, I will first conduct an unstructured life story interview with you, asking you to tell me about your experience of living in different countries and how you feel it has affected the course of your life. I will then follow up with a semi-structured interview, where you will be requested to reflect on your pregnancy, birth and postpartum recovery experience(s) in countries outside of your country of origin. Please think about the different forms of support and care resources you made use of during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum recovery;
- If you provide care services, whether formal (i.e., state, private and voluntary) or informal (i.e., family and community) in nature, I would like to do a semi-structured interview with you to find out how you got interested and involved in pregnancy, birth and postpartum recovery care, and your experiences with providing care during this specific period for women who have migrated/expatriated.
Where and when do the interviews take place?
The interviews will take place in a suitable quiet space that is convenient for you and in which you can feel comfortable to freely express yourself with minimal interruption for a few hours (e.g., a cafe, your home, your office, etc.). I can travel to a location that best suits your needs. Interviews will take place on weekdays (Monday-Friday), during the working day where possible.
Are there any possible risks involved?
Sharing your story can sometimes bring up difficult memories or intense emotions. If at any point you wish to take a break, stop the interview or even discontinue participation in the study, you are free to do so.
Will you be paid to participate in this project?
There are no costs associated with participating in this research study, nor will you be paid. If you like, you will be given a recorded copy of your interview in a format you can play.
What are the possible benefits to participation?
From a standpoint of personal well-being, many people find it worthwhile to tell their stories and have the opportunity to reflect on their experiences with a sympathetic listener. Creating a verbal record of things experienced and remembered could be beneficial to you and your family, as well as to the researcher you permit to study your story. Oral histories/life stories serve as important first-hand accounts of subjective experience. Your story will help me to continue to develop my ongoing research on transnational health care.
What will happen to information about you?
When we meet for the interview, you will be asked to sign a consent form, which indicates that you consent to me collecting and using information about you for the purposes of this research study. A digital audio recording will be made of the interview. After the interview, I will transcribe the recording.
In compliance with Wageningen University & Research’s data management policy, I will store information about you and your recordings in the form of digital recording and transcription for a minimum of seven (7) years securely at my institution, Wageningen University & Research. Your confidentiality will be ensured by careful record keeping.
It is anticipated that the results of this research study will be published and/or presented in a variety of forums. In any publication and/or presentation, information will be published in a way such that you will be anonymised, unless you explicitly indicate your wishes otherwise on your consent form. You have the right to request access to the information about you that I have collected and stored; this can be done by contacting me.
How and when will you find out what the results of the research study are?
You have a right to receive feedback about the overall results of this study. You can indicate that you wish to receive study feedback on your consent form, along with your preferred contact address. This feedback will be in the form of a project highlights summary after the study is finished.
References
Kemp, C.L., Ball, M.M. and Perkins, M.M., 2013. Convoys of care: Theorizing intersections of formal and informal care. Journal of Aging Studies, 27(1), 15-29.
