Access to Maternal Health Care for Romani Women

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Access to health care, particularly maternal care, is not limited to the developing world, nor always the result of an inability to pay. Racism, poverty, and other forms of discrimination deny mothers access to care in the United States and Europe. In Eastern Europe, Romani women face a number of disadvantages in accessing care.

A new paper in the International Journal for Equity in Health explores the experience of Romani mothers in the Balkans:

The experiences of Romani women demonstrate psychosocial and structural pathways by which racism and discrimination affect access to prenatal and maternity care. Interventions to address maternal health inequalities should target barriers within all three levels of racism.