Toward culturally safe perinatal genetic screening for migrants in Victoria
This research aims to understand the experience of perinatal genetic screening for Hindi-, Punjabi- and English-speaking women who have migrated to Australia from India.
The research will centre the voices of people from the Indian community in Victoria as well as their healthcare providers.
What is already known?
Perinatal genetic screening can provide people with information about their pregnancy or newborn. This information may be used to support decisions about family planning, or enable access to early intervention and support for serious genetic conditions. However, screening is also inherently linked with sensitive topics such as abortion, in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), sex-determination and disability.
This highlights the importance of ensuring that people have adequate information and support about screening to decide whether screening is right for them.
What this study adds
It is critical that information and support regarding perinatal genetic screening, as with all care provided in the perinatal period, are culturally safe and trauma-informed. However, there is no research exploring what trauma-informed, culturally safe perinatal genetic screening looks like from the perspectives of families themselves. This research is a first step addressing this evidence gap.
What’s next?
The next steps of this research are to:
Map the existing academic literature about experiences of perinatal genetic screening for people from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
Work with community researchers, community advisors, and healthcare provider advisors to inform the research.
Conduct a grounded theory study to understand how Indian migrants in Victoria and their healthcare providers experience perinatal genetic screening.
