Culturally sensitive perinatal mental health care: Experiences of women from minority ethnic groups

Background: Current research has identified how ethnic minority women experience poorer health outcomes during the perinatal period. In the United Kingdom, specialist perinatal mental health services provide mental health treatment for women throughout the perinatal period. Service users have previously highlighted that perinatal services are hard to access and lack cultural sensitivity, whereas healthcare professionals have described limited opportunities and resources for developing cultural competency.

Objectives: We explored the experiences of ethnic minority women with National Health Service (NHS) specialist perinatal teams and identified what culturally sensitive perinatal mental health care means to this group.

Design: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, and an interpretative phenomenological analysis framework was used to analyse the interview transcripts.

Setting and Participants: Participants were recruited from NHS specialist perinatal teams and online via social media.

Results: Six women were interviewed. Four group experiential themes central to the experiences of participants emerged: (1) strengthening community networks and peer support; (2) valuing cultural curiosity; (3) making sense of how culture, ethnicity, race and racism impact mental health; and (4) tailoring interventions to ethnic minority women and their families.

Discussion and Conclusions: The findings capture how ethnic minority women experience specialist perinatal teams and offer insights into practising culturally sensitive care. Perinatal mental health professionals can support ethnic minority women by strengthening their access to community resources and peer support; being curious about their culture; helping them to make sense of how culture, ethnicity, race and mental health interact; and applying cultural and practical adaptations to interventions.