The Asian Mother and Baby Campaign (the Leicestershire experience).
Leicestershire was one of the 10 districts selected for inclusion in the Asian Mother and Baby Campaign, a campaign undertaken to help overcome the problems experienced by Asian women during pregnancy. To achieve this aim eight linkworkers were allocated to this district for a two year period. A local evaluation was undertaken using general practices with evidence of a higher than average perinatal risk. Linkworkers were distributed equally between the hospital and community setting. Women from the selected practices were interviewed at three points; booking for ante-natal care, following delivery and at the post-natal visit. It was found that the linkworkers provided a much needed interpreter service but were less successful in imparting health education knowledge to Asian women. In fact improvement in health education knowledge only occurred in women with a good understanding of English. A surprising finding was that there is still a very large proportion (approximately 50%) of Asian women in Leicestershire who are unable to communicate in English and are not therefore able to make full use of the available services.
Mason
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ES
Department of Community Health, Leicester Royal Infirmary.
D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires