South Asian and black women’s perinatal mental health care services require careful work with families, translators and peer supporters to reduce stigma and ensure confidentiality

Implications for practice and researchImproving access for South Asian and black women requires work with communities to challenge mental health stigma and improve confidentiality among translators.Research is required into the role of the peer support worker, and how they will affect women’s access to and experience of perinatal mental health services.ContextThe context of Bains et al’s study is centred around the inequalities currently experienced by ethnic minority mothers when accessing perinatal mental health services in the UK.1 They are less likely to access community mental health services perinatally and are more likely to experience involuntary admissions.2 The study forms part of a larger piece of research exploring the access and acceptability of perinatal mental health services by women of South Asian and black ethnicity, and interviews a range of healthcare professionals (HCPs) including psychiatrists, mental health nurses, health visitors and psychologists.MethodsThe study1 is based on a pragmatic paradigm, an approach that supports using a methodology which ‘fits’ the topic,3 with the authors aiming to apply their findings to improve clinical practice. The authors used purposive sampling to recruit 24 HCPs, through National Health Service trusts and social media. Data were collected through both online and face-to-face, semistructured interviews producing three themes overall. The qualitative method of framework analysis was used for analysis.4 The authors document the numerous stages of analysis, including familiarisation, identifying a framework, charting, mapping and interpretation. They attribute each author to the stages they were involved in analysis. The first author’s research position as an ethnic minority woman is acknowledged in the reflexivity section, alongside efforts to avoid this position influencing interpretation of the data.FindingsThree themes were produced through framework analysis. First, HCPs identify limitations in South Asian and black women’s recognition of and ...