‘They Forget I’m Deaf’: Exploring the Experience and Perception of Deaf Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics/Care

BACKGROUND: Antenatal care (ANC) services provide access to integrated health management for several pregnancy related conditions. Unfortunately, deaf pregnant women remain vulnerable during pregnancy due to lack of access as well as communication barriers at antenatal clinics in Nigeria. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to explore the experiences and satisfaction of pregnant deaf women with antenatal care in Nigeria. METHODS: This was a qualitative study, conducted among nine deaf pregnant women from two local government areas, attending both private and public health facilities for antenatal care in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Data were collected using semi-structured, video recorded one-on-one interviews, with sign language as the medium of communication. The interviews were conducted until saturation of the themes was reached. The recorded interviews were precisely transcribed and thematic analyses were conducted on the data obtained. FINDINGS: The mean age of the participants was 29.5 years. Participants indicated that they had registered/booked for antenatal care in their second trimester. Registration at this stage was regarded as late registration of the pregnancies. Communication difficulties during their ANC (antenatal care) visits, distance and location of the clinics, knowledge and perception of what ANC entailed, finance/cost, and health care professionals’ attitudes towards the participants were the major themes identified for late ANC bookings. Participants who attended privately owned health care facilities for ANC had more satisfaction with ANC care than those attending publicly owned health facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Deaf pregnant women were knowledgeable about ANC but registered late for the service, largely due to communication difficulties, distance to the clinic, cost, and the perceived attitudes of the health care workers. There existed a variance in the level of satisfaction of deaf pregnant women who attended private or public health facilities.