Ethnographic Study of Experiences of Pakistani Women Immigrants With Pregnancy,Birthing,and Postpartum Care in the United States and Pakistan

Abstract

Study Purpose: Describe the comparative birthing experiences of Pakistani immigrant women in Pakistan and the United States. Conceptual Framework: The framework was drawn from Berry’s cultural adaptation, Glick-Schiller et al.’s transnationalism and Berkman’s social network. Methodology: Qualitative design using purposive sample of 26 women immigrants who originated from any province in Pakistan and experienced childbirth in Pakistan and in the United States. Individual interviews were conducted in Urdu and English in participants’ homes which lasted for approximately 60 minutes. Telephone follow-up augmented the audiotaped interviews. Findings: Women experienced difficulties associated with inability to observe cultural traditions and loss of extended, gendered kin support. Adaptive strategies were evident through development of social networks of weak ties with nonkin groups in the United States, maintenance of transnational ties with kin back in Pakistan, and assimilation of less gender-defined roles by women and their spouses.