A Comparative Study on the Postpartum Depression of Vietnamese Marriage Immigrant Women and Korean Women

Vietnamese Immigrant Women's Experience of Maternity after Childbirth

PURPOSE

To understand the meaning and essence of Vietnamese migrant women's maternal experience after childbirth.

METHODS

A phenomenological methodology was used for this study. Study participants were six Vietnamese marriage migrant women who had experience of childbirth in Korea. Data collection period was from February 1 through November 4, 2016. Data were collected through in-depth interview and analyzed with the Giorgi method.

RESULTS

As a result of study, six main meanings and 12 themes were produced. The six main meanings produced in this study were 'childbirth realized in the double difficulty', 'concerned health between the ở cữ and the sanhujori', 'tired body with hard parenting', 'crowding regret for international marriage after childbirth', 'Grateful partner becoming the prop', and 'Growing maternal instinct by moving the mind and body in a foreign country'.

CONCLUSION

Consideration for postnatal care is necessary from Vietnamese marriage migrant women's viewpoint. Systematic education programs that can improve nursing capability of medical personnel for multicultured clinical practice with development of a postnatal care program suited to multiculture are also necessary.

Development of a Scale to Assess Immigrant Women's Needs for Pregnancy and Postpartum Adaptation

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to assess immigrant women's needs for pregnancy and postpartum adaptation and to test the reliability and validity of the scale.

METHODS

To construct scale items, critical issues and difficulties associated with pregnancy and postpartum adaptation of immigrant women were identified and categorized through a literature review. Fifty-two scale items were constructed, and data for validity and reliability testing was collected with a questionnaire survey from 367 immigrant women. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and reliability coefficients.

RESULTS

The final measurement scale to assess immigrant women's pregnancy and postpartum adaptation consisted of 48 items and 7 factors (adaptation to daily activity during pregnancy, cross-cultural understanding and personal respect, understanding of the process of pregnancy and delivery, baby rearing and family support, physical and emotional adaptation after childbirth, nutrition during pregnancy, and sexual life adaptation). The seven factors accounted for 64.26% of the variance, and Cronbach's alpha was .96.

CONCLUSION

The scale developed by this study is a reliable and valid instrument and can be used to assess needs of pregnancy and postpartum adaptation and can be utilized in providing nursing interventions for immigrant women.