'They're more like ordinary stroppy British women': attitudes and expectations of maternity care professionals to UK-born ethnic minority women.

Abstract

To explore the attitudes and expectations of maternity care professionals to UK-born ethnic minority mothers.Qualitative in-depth interviews with 30 professionals from eight NHS maternity units in England that provide services for large proportions of women of black Caribbean, black African, Indian, Pakistani and Irish descent.Conclusion: Professionals appeared to equate the needs of UK-born ethnic minority women with those of white English women. Overall, this has positive implications for care provision. Despite this, specific behavioural expectations and unconscious stereotypical views were evident and have the potential to affect clinical practice.