. 2023 May 17;4(1):241–250. doi: 10.1089/whr.2022.0112

Table 1.

Immigrants' Access to and Experiences with Prenatal Care Before the Onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as reported by Direct Service Providers

Barriers to receiving high-quality prenatal care
Inconsistent access to language-concordant care (i.e., care in preferred language)	“I ask them, ‘What did the doctor say?’ And they say, ‘I really don't remember, because they had a translator, and it was difficult to me. And I really don't know. I know she said everything is okay. But then, no more than that. No more.’ Education-wise, they were not receiving that information, because of lack of barrier language.” “I do remember she had a situation where she was asked to sign a lot of documents and she did not know what she was signing. And it was because the social worker had a lot on her plate and she just said, ‘Listen, you can't access, you know, the services that you need for during your pregnancy, if you don't sign these papers.’”
Lack of knowledge of immigrant eligibility for benefits that support health care access	“It's very hard to access prenatal care. The concept that you can apply for insurance [while] pregnant is not well known and people, even, you do know it, a lot of people are afraid to do it, or the barrier of getting online and doing it, it's just too high.” “A lot of people have the assumption I'm immigrant, I don't have no social, I don't have a legal status, I'm not eligible for anything.”

Barriers to receiving high-quality prenatal care

Inconsistent access to language-concordant care (i.e., care in preferred language)

“I ask them, ‘What did the doctor say?’ And they say, ‘I really don't remember, because they had a translator, and it was difficult to me. And I really don't know. I know she said everything is okay. But then, no more than that. No more.’ Education-wise, they were not receiving that information, because of lack of barrier language.”
“I do remember she had a situation where she was asked to sign a lot of documents and she did not know what she was signing. And it was because the social worker had a lot on her plate and she just said, ‘Listen, you can't access, you know, the services that you need for during your pregnancy, if you don't sign these papers.’”

Lack of knowledge of immigrant eligibility for benefits that support health care access

“It's very hard to access prenatal care. The concept that you can apply for insurance [while] pregnant is not well known and people, even, you do know it, a lot of people are afraid to do it, or the barrier of getting online and doing it, it's just too high.”
“A lot of people have the assumption I'm immigrant, I don't have no social, I don't have a legal status, I'm not eligible for anything.”

Facilitators to prenatal care access
Flexibility with appointment scheduling process	“I love to see where they can walk into a health center or hospital, and they can get connected easily, not have to call this person that calls that person…”
Ability to bring support persons to prenatal appointments	“We went to the prenatal visits together, and she has been seen, and so I could interpret to her as well, so she didn't feel like she was by herself or on her own. And even though I was there, and the health care provider was using an interpreter over the phone, the fact that I had to rephrase again for her so she will better understand, it made her comfortable actually.”