Newcomer Women's Experiences with Perinatal Care During the Three-Month Health Insurance Waiting Period in Ontario, Canada.
Jessica Pimienta, Sepali Guruge, Oona St-Amant and 2 others
PMID 36632015WHAT IT FOUND
Newcomer pregnant women described delayed access, costly deposits, language barriers, and fear of losing care if they questioned providers.
Midwives reported a delayed emergency caesarean and hospital systems denying newborn OHIP cards.
Key findings
01Newcomer women described being turned away from clinics, charged deposits, and reaching care late during the Ontario health insurance waiting period.
02Midwife participants described care delays tied to fees, including an emergency caesarean delayed while an obstetrician negotiated a fee in the hallway.
03Participants reported consent and communication failures, including internal exams without introductions or permission, underused language lines, and newborns denied OHIP cards by hospital systems.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only four newcomer women and three midwife participants were studied, so it is not evidence of how common these experiences are. Women who do not speak English were excluded, and almost 600,000 people in Canada cannot hold a conversation in English or French, so language barriers may be understated. All healthcare professional participants were midwives, so obstetricians, family physicians, nurses, and other providers may see this differently. The study used participant observations and interviews conducted by the first author, a maternal child nurse and master's student, which may shape what was noticed. It describes experiences and policy problems, not tested interventions or measured health outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest and received no financial support for the research, authorship, or publication.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that removing the health insurance waiting period, salary-based midwifery funding, or support groups improves outcomes. These are recommendations and participant accounts, not tested interventions.