Development of the Migrant Friendly Maternity Care Questionnaire (MFMCQ) for migrants to Western societies: An international Delphi consensus process

Anita J. Gagnon, Rebecca De Bruyn, Birgitta Essén, Mika Gissler, Maureen Heaman, Zeinab Jeambey, Dineke Korfker, Christine McCourt, Carolyn Roth, Jennifer Zeitlin, Rhonda Small, Sophie Alexander, Judith Racapé, Annett Arntzen, Henrique Barros, Béatrice Blondel, Lisa Merry, Richard Glazier, Russell Kirby, Ashna MohangooAlison Macfarlane, Nirupa Dattani, Anne Marie Nybo Andersen, Laust Mortensen, Sarah Villadsen, Mary Ann Davey, Erika Sievers, Babill Stray-Pedersen, Marcelo Urquia, Teresa Janevic, Sylvia Guendelman, Francisco Bolumar, María Isabel Río Sánchez, Anders Hjern, Siri Vangen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Through the World Health Assembly Resolution, 'Health of Migrants', the international community has identified migrant health as a priority. Recommendations for general hospital care for international migrants in receiving-countries have been put forward by the Migrant Friendly Hospital Initiative; adaptations of these recommendations specific to maternity care have yet to be elucidated and validated. We aimed to develop a questionnaire measuring migrant-friendly maternity care (MFMC) which could be used in a range of maternity care settings and countries.Methods: This study was conducted in four stages. First, questions related to migrant friendly maternity care were identified from existing questionnaires including the Migrant Friendliness Quality Questionnaire, developed in Europe to capture recommended general hospital care for migrants, and the Mothers In a New Country (MINC) Questionnaire, developed in Australia and revised for use in Canada to capture the maternity care experiences of migrant women, and combined to create an initial MFMC questionnaire. Second, a Delphi consensus process in three rounds with a panel of 89 experts in perinatal health and migration from 17 countries was undertaken to identify priority themes and questions as well as to clarify wording and format. Third, the draft questionnaire was translated from English to French and Spanish and back-translated and subsequently culturally validated (assessed for cultural appropriateness) by migrant women. Fourth, the questionnaire was piloted with migrant women who had recently given birth in Montreal, Canada.Results: A 112-item questionnaire on maternity care from pregnancy, through labour and birth, to postpartum care, and including items on maternal socio-demographic, migration and obstetrical characteristics, and perceptions of care, has been created - the Migrant Friendly Maternity Care Questionnaire (MFMCQ) - in three languages (English, French and Spanish). It is completed in 45 minutes via interview administration several months post-birth.Conclusions: A 4-stage process of questionnaire development with international experts in migrant reproductive health and research resulted in the MFMCQ, a questionnaire measuring key aspects of migrant-sensitive maternity care. The MFMCQ is available for further translation and use to examine and compare care and perceptions of care within and across countries, and by key socio-demographic, migration, and obstetrical characteristics of migrant women.

Original languageEnglish
Article number200
JournalBMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 10 Jun 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Childbirth
  • Ethnicity
  • Immigration and emigration
  • Maternal-child health services
  • Patient satisfaction
  • Patient-centred care
  • Pregnancy
  • Quality of health care
  • Questionnaires
  • Women

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