Original articles
Cognitive gaps between the expectations and realities of foreign women from Asian countries in their experience of giving birth in Japan
2023 Volume 37 Issue 1 Pages 13-26
Details
2023 Volume 37 Issue 1 Pages 13-26
Purpose
To clarify the cognitive gaps between the expectations and real-life experiences of foreign women from Asian countries who gave birth in Japan.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted between March 20 and July 22, 2018, with foreign women of Asian origin who have given birth in Japan in the past five years. Six interviews about their experiences before and after childbirth were analyzed qualitatively.
Results
The childbirth experiences of foreign women from Asian countries in Japan resulted in three cognitive gaps. These women experienced before giving birth “loneliness of giving birth in a cross-cultural environment.” However, as pregnancy proceeds, these changed to experiencing “alleviated anxiety through gathering information,” “confidence to mutual understanding with medical staff.” After childbirth, this further changed to “satisfaction with the perinatal service in comparison with their home country,” resulted in 《the positive gap due to unclear expectations for the medical environment in Japan.》“Concern about medical staff attitudes towards foreigners,” altered to “trust built with the medical staff,” and caused 《the positive gap due to low expectations for medical professionals.》“Confusion over the cultural differences between their home country and Japan” arose after childbirth from “a belief that their own culture (postpartum/childcare customs) is obvious,” led to 《the negative gap due to implicit expectations for their own culture (postpartum/childcare customs).》
Conclusion
The expectations and later experienced realities of childbearing among foreign women from Asian countries in Japan were compared. The analysis revealed a positive gap regarding the Japanese medical environment and medical personnel and a negative gap regarding childbirth culture. There are negative and tacit expectations when foreign women give birth in Japan, and care should be based on the assumption that a discrepancy may arise between their expectations and reality. Health professionals should actively intervene from the initial stages of pregnancy to bridge the gap, for example, by providing information about Japanese medical care, encouraging foreign women to rethink the image they have of medical personnel, and explaining the local culture of childbirth.
