Introduction

  This study focused on the many foreign reproductive-age women living in Nagasaki and Sasebo city, and aimed to reveal the elements of “communicative competence in providing perinatal care for foreign women” as thought necessary by nurses and midwives engaged in perinatal care in Nagasaki prefecture.

Methods

  A self-administered questionnaire was posted to 207 nurses and midwives working in 10 out of the 25 medical institutions which provide obstetric services in Nagasaki and Sasebo city of which consent to research cooperation was obtained. The questionnaire consisted of basic demographic information, questions specific to foreigners and 38 questions relating to “communicative competence in providing perinatal care for foreign women”. The questions were to be answered on a scale of 1 to 4: “1-not at all necessary”, “2-not very necessary”, “3-somewhat necessary”, and “4-very necessary”, and were analyzed by factor analysis.

Results

  141 out of 207 nurses and midwives responded to the questionnaire (response rate 68.1%), of which 120 were valid for analysis (valid response rate 58.0%). 111 out of the 120 (92.5%) were experienced in perinatal care for foreign women . Among the 38 questions relating to “communicative competence in providing perinatal care for foreign women”, responses to 36 questions scored an average of 3.0 points or higher. Factor analysis on the responses to these questions revealed the following eight elements: “cross-cultural understanding“, “resource utilization”, “problem solving”, “cross-cultural respect”, “verbal communication”, “non-verbal communication”, “self-cultural understanding”, and “preparation for delivery”.

Conclusions

  Nurses and midwives engaged in perinatal care in Nagasaki and Sasebo city recognize eight elements of “cross-cultural understanding”, “resource utilization”, “problem solving”, “cross-cultural respect”, “verbal communication”, “non-verbal communication”, “self-cultural understanding”, and “preparation for delivery”, as the necessary “communicative competence in providing perinatal care for foreign women”.