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. 2020 Jun 1;79(6 Suppl 2):70–77.

Table 1.

Discussion Guide

1. Demographics: Can you tell me your age, how long you have lived in the United States, and how many children you have?
2. Can you tell me about your experience with resettling, as in what country you are from, where you resettled through, and if you lived in a camp(s)?
3. How do you decide about how big your family is going to be? (Probe for cultural norms around family size and whether this is changing now that they are in the US.)
4. When do you have this discussion? Who is involved in the discussion?
5. How are these decisions made?
6. How soon after you are married do most people have their first child?
7. Does it matter whether you have a boy or girl? To you? Family? Culture?
8. Now let’s talk about planning for your second child? How long do most people wait before having a second child? How successful were you with your plan? What kinds of things do you do not to get pregnant too soon? (Probe for no prevention, rhythm, condoms, etc., herbal/non-traditional meds). Has this changed in any way since coming to the US? If so, how? (probe for if they know about contraception methods)
9. In school or camps were there sessions on sexual education that you attended or knew about? What did they talk about?
10. So, you mentioned that you used ______ methods to try to not get pregnant too soon. Why did you choose this method? How do you feel about it? What do you like or dislike about it? Did they work for you? If so how, or if not why not? How long have you been using it? (Probe for prior to arriving in US or since coming to the US).
11. What other things do people do that can help them plan when to have another child? (Probe for medicines, herbal, non-traditional, other methods, etc.)

  1. How did you learn/hear about these methods? What do you know about them? How do they work? (probe about whether it was explained by doctor or learned through the community)

  2. How do you feel about these methods? Would you use them? Why or why not?

12. Some of you mentioned that you have heard about medicines that can help you to plan when you want to get pregnant. What kind of medicines have you heard about? (Probe for different types –pills, injections, patches, medicines that can be inserted in your skin or inside your body that stay there for a few years, TL, vasectomy).

  1. How do you feel about using a medicine to plan when you have your next child? (Probe about cultural beliefs, discussions with friends?). Would you use a medicine? Why or why not?

  2. Have you used any of these medicines? How did you decide which medicine to use? – (probe for discussion with friends/family, discussions with doctor or other health care provider, read about it in an article or on the internet, etc. Was decision/choice made with family, partner, or by themselves?)

  3. What were these discussions like? What did you talk about? (Probe for how contraception works, etc.) What kinds of questions did you have? How easy was it to discuss this with the doctor/nurse? What would have helped to make this discussion better?

  4. How easy or difficult was it to get the medicine once you made a choice? (Probe about whether access is easy or difficult and why – cost, embarrassment, availability, etc. Probe for access issues prior to and after coming to the US.)

13. What if you become pregnant and don’t want the child? What do you do then? Who is involved in the decision (probe about thoughts on abortion)
14. Some women want to get pregnant but can’t… what do you think about that? What do your families think about that? (probe about infertility)
15. So now that you are in the United States, have your thoughts on family planning changed since resettlement or are they the same as when in your native country? (Probe about methods, more active planning.)
16. Do you have discussions with your children about their health – especially in regard to sexual health, menstrual cycle?
17. Now let’s talk about your visits with a doctor. How is it to discuss your health including planning for a family with your doctor in the United States? Do you feel comfortable bringing up the discussion with your doctor? How is it compared to discussions prior to resettlement? (probe about difficulties, ease of use of translator, sex of physician, access to methods and physician, cost)
18. Is there anything else you want your doctors to know regarding your healthcare or the relationship with the doctor? Is there anything you would want your doctors to do differently? (probe about culture, religion, language, access)