Interpersonal sources of health and maternity information for Somali women living in the UK : Information seeking and evaluation

Although the information needs of women receiving antenatal and postnatal care are well understood, few studies have examined the use of information by minority ethnic women. This paper describes a pilot study that aimed to identify the main maternity information sources used by Somali women living in a northern city in the UK. The study described here utilised unstructured exploratory focus group and semi‐structured interviews with Somali women. All discussions and interviews were audiotaped, translated and transcribed in their entirety and then analysed using a variation of the theme analysis method. Sources of information emerged as a sub‐theme from the data. Women sought and used information from several interpersonal sources. Many were dependent on general practitioners and health visitors for maternity information, although participants favoured community health forums addressed by health professionals. Women also sought maternity information from friends and neighbours. Interpersonal sources as a whole were viewed as having a number of advantages. Informal sources in particular were perceived as being approachable and providing a means through which further information could be sought, while each information source was also evaluated according to specific criteria. The implications of these findings for minority ethnic women are discussed and recommendations for further research are outlined.