Care and support during maternity for mothers affected by modern slavery: A scoping review
Background: Modern slavery is a largely hidden crime disproportionately affecting women and girls, with 71% of the world's enslaved people being female and approximately one third estimated to be pregnant. Healthcare professionals experience difficulties in caring for mothers affected by modern...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666142X23000231 |
| _version_ | 1797401710459617280 |
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| author | Sara Borrelli Renuka Ramasamy Ruth Wong Helen Spiby |
| author_facet | Sara Borrelli Renuka Ramasamy Ruth Wong Helen Spiby |
| author_sort | Sara Borrelli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Modern slavery is a largely hidden crime disproportionately affecting women and girls, with 71% of the world's enslaved people being female and approximately one third estimated to be pregnant. Healthcare professionals experience difficulties in caring for mothers affected by modern slavery, including asking appropriate questions and initiating discussions, making safe referrals, being uncertain about entitlements, and facing obstacles in accessing language support and specialist mental health services. Despite the expectation of cohesive and consistent services, which avoid the recounting of experiences that may re-traumatise, interdisciplinary collaborations between maternity services and non-statutory agencies remain unclear. Objective: To map the available evidence and resources on maternity care provision and non-statutory support to pregnant women and mothers affected by modern slavery. Design: A scoping review was conducted following the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. Methods: Five databases (Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts, Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Dissertations & Thesis A&I, Embase, Scopus) were searched. Inclusion criteria: English language; published between 2012 and May 2022; related to both maternity care provision and modern slavery; cross-sectional perspectives, including survivor mothers, healthcare professionals, midwives, and non-statutory service staff; any methodology. Exclusion criteria: general healthcare or not maternity related; opinion pieces, letters, book reviews, commentaries. Grey literature was searched using relevant websites reporting theses, blogs, policies, guidelines, and resources. Results: Twelve articles reporting 11 studies and 29 grey literature reports were retained for the scoping review. Three key themes were identified from research studies: a) women's perspectives on barriers to access and engagement with maternity services; b) challenges and needs identified by healthcare professionals; and c) the impact of human trafficking on maternal and neonatal outcomes. The grey literature resources comprised mainly blogs, information sheets, leaflets or webpages, and research or consultation reports. Maternity was being experienced by survivor mothers with the following: unfamiliarity with and lack of access to systems and information across all sectors, barriers to care and entitlements, contemporary threats of violence from partners/traffickers, restricted ability to move freely, issues related to traumatisation, dispersal policies, and dealing with multiple new systems. Conclusions: Although several sources indicate principles that should be adopted, the detail of how optimal care and support during maternity should be provided by healthcare professionals and non-statutory service staff is lacking. Further research is required, from which recommendations for good maternity practice and the effective intersection between statutory and non-statutory services can be derived and subsequently mobilised across different systems and settings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:14:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b23913bf71da483ab69729beaf27347b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-142X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:14:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances |
| spelling | doaj.art-b23913bf71da483ab69729beaf27347b2023-12-07T05:30:29ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Nursing Studies Advances2666-142X2023-12-015100139Care and support during maternity for mothers affected by modern slavery: A scoping reviewSara Borrelli0Renuka Ramasamy1Ruth Wong2Helen Spiby3Associate Professor in Midwifery, Research Assistant, Professor in Midwifery, University of Nottingham, School of Health Sciences, Queen's Medical School, B Floor, NG7 2UH, Nottingham, United Kingdom; Corresponding author.Associate Professor in Midwifery, Research Assistant, Professor in Midwifery, University of Nottingham, School of Health Sciences, Queen's Medical School, B Floor, NG7 2UH, Nottingham, United KingdomInformation Specialist, University of Sheffield, School of Health and Related Research, Regent Court (ScHARR), 30 Regent Street, Sheffield, 1026AS1 4DAAssociate Professor in Midwifery, Research Assistant, Professor in Midwifery, University of Nottingham, School of Health Sciences, Queen's Medical School, B Floor, NG7 2UH, Nottingham, United KingdomBackground: Modern slavery is a largely hidden crime disproportionately affecting women and girls, with 71% of the world's enslaved people being female and approximately one third estimated to be pregnant. Healthcare professionals experience difficulties in caring for mothers affected by modern slavery, including asking appropriate questions and initiating discussions, making safe referrals, being uncertain about entitlements, and facing obstacles in accessing language support and specialist mental health services. Despite the expectation of cohesive and consistent services, which avoid the recounting of experiences that may re-traumatise, interdisciplinary collaborations between maternity services and non-statutory agencies remain unclear. Objective: To map the available evidence and resources on maternity care provision and non-statutory support to pregnant women and mothers affected by modern slavery. Design: A scoping review was conducted following the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. Methods: Five databases (Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts, Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Dissertations & Thesis A&I, Embase, Scopus) were searched. Inclusion criteria: English language; published between 2012 and May 2022; related to both maternity care provision and modern slavery; cross-sectional perspectives, including survivor mothers, healthcare professionals, midwives, and non-statutory service staff; any methodology. Exclusion criteria: general healthcare or not maternity related; opinion pieces, letters, book reviews, commentaries. Grey literature was searched using relevant websites reporting theses, blogs, policies, guidelines, and resources. Results: Twelve articles reporting 11 studies and 29 grey literature reports were retained for the scoping review. Three key themes were identified from research studies: a) women's perspectives on barriers to access and engagement with maternity services; b) challenges and needs identified by healthcare professionals; and c) the impact of human trafficking on maternal and neonatal outcomes. The grey literature resources comprised mainly blogs, information sheets, leaflets or webpages, and research or consultation reports. Maternity was being experienced by survivor mothers with the following: unfamiliarity with and lack of access to systems and information across all sectors, barriers to care and entitlements, contemporary threats of violence from partners/traffickers, restricted ability to move freely, issues related to traumatisation, dispersal policies, and dealing with multiple new systems. Conclusions: Although several sources indicate principles that should be adopted, the detail of how optimal care and support during maternity should be provided by healthcare professionals and non-statutory service staff is lacking. Further research is required, from which recommendations for good maternity practice and the effective intersection between statutory and non-statutory services can be derived and subsequently mobilised across different systems and settings.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666142X23000231Maternity careModern slaveryHuman traffickingSurvivorMothersHealthcare professionals |
| spellingShingle | Sara Borrelli Renuka Ramasamy Ruth Wong Helen Spiby Care and support during maternity for mothers affected by modern slavery: A scoping review International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances Maternity care Modern slavery Human trafficking Survivor Mothers Healthcare professionals |
| title | Care and support during maternity for mothers affected by modern slavery: A scoping review |
| title_full | Care and support during maternity for mothers affected by modern slavery: A scoping review |
| title_fullStr | Care and support during maternity for mothers affected by modern slavery: A scoping review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Care and support during maternity for mothers affected by modern slavery: A scoping review |
| title_short | Care and support during maternity for mothers affected by modern slavery: A scoping review |
| title_sort | care and support during maternity for mothers affected by modern slavery a scoping review |
| topic | Maternity care Modern slavery Human trafficking Survivor Mothers Healthcare professionals |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666142X23000231 |
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