Equitable abortion care - A challenge for health care providers. Experiences from abortion care encounters with immigrant women in Stockholm, Sweden.

OBJECTIVE

To explore health care providers' experiences of providing care to immigrant women seeking abortion care.

METHODS

A qualitative study including interviews with ten midwives and three medical doctors at four abortion clinics in the Stockholm area. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Initially, health care providers were reluctant to make statements concerning the specific needs among immigrant women. Yet, the health care providers sometimes found it challenging to deal with the specific needs among immigrant, mostly non-European, women. Three themes were identified: (1) Reluctance to acknowledge specific needs among immigrant women; (2) Striving to provide contraceptive counselling to immigrant women; (3) Organizational barriers hindering patient-centred abortion care to immigrant women

CONCLUSIONS

Health care providers' experiences of the specific needs among non-European, immigrant women are not openly discussed, although they are acknowledged. To achieve equitable access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), health care providers need to be better equipped when encountering immigrant women in abortion care, especially regarding contraceptive counselling. The potential impact of patients' knowledge, norms and values is not adequately dealt with in the clinical encounter. Moreover, to provide patient-centred care, it is crucial to understand how to develop and implement SRH care that ensures equal access to high-quality care.