Hi, I am collecting information for my final paper, which is a comparison of health care for women in the Middle East (particularly Muslim women) and women in the United States. I was directed to your site by some Muslim women on a parenting board I frequent; I hope some of you will be interested in providing some information for me!
Some background; I am a 33 year old nurse at an independent birthing center in the midwest US. I am returning to school for my bachelors of science in nursing, and one of my courses is on cultural anthropology. During my work as a nurse, I have worked with several young Muslim women from the Middle East. Of course there are cultural differences, but some were striking, and really piqued my curiosity. When assigned a final paper, I felt this was the perfect opportunity to gather more information about the similarities and differences in women's health care in the US and Middle East.
If you are interested in answering my questions, it would be helpful for me if you would email me your answers directly at lorijds at yahoo dot com. It is more difficult for me to print them if they are posted here directly. Please don't email them as an attachment; I am computer-challenged and sometimes have problems opening them. I also *promise* not to use your full name; in fact, I don't even need to know your full name. I just need a name, *any* name, to use for citation purposes. The only people who will even read the interviews will be myself and my instructor. I would be happy to email a copy of my paper when I complete it.
My paper is due at the beginning of May; I would like to have the bulk of the interviews collected by mid-April.
Please feel free to share the questions with any friends or family members who would be interested in participating.
If you have any comments or questions, please don't hesitate to email me.
Thank you *very much* for your time! I really appreciate it!
************************
General:
* How old are you?
* Where were you born?
* Where do you currently live?
If you have spent any time in a middle eastern country, the following questions refer to your life during that time period. Please specify which country and what year(s) your answers refer to.
* What sort of health care do women typically receive? What sort of health care have you received?
* How frequently, and under what conditions, did you seek out health care?
* Who pays for health care (the woman, her family, an insurance company, the government, etc?)
* How is health care accessed? For example, if you are ill, does a physician or nurse come to the house, or do you go to a clinic? Is the clinic public or private? Do you see a doctor or a nurse? Must you make an appointment in advance, or is it walk-in/first come, first serve?
* Do you have a separate doctor for “women’s issues” and illness (for example, if you develops a sore throat, do you see the same doctor that you would see if you needed pregnancy care)?
* What sort of care does a women’s health care provider give: birth control pills, pregnancy care, pap smears?
* What sort of practitioners are available to you: doctors, midwifes, nurses?
If you were pregnant in a Middle Eastern Country:
* During what month did you begin pregnancy care?
* Who pays for your pregnancy care?
* How often did you see your care provider during pregnancy?
* What sort of care did you receive during the pregnancy? Was blood work done? Nutritional education? Did they do a pelvic exam? Ultrasound?
* How involved is the baby’s father in the care? Does he attend the appointments? Does he help choose the doctor/midwife? Does he attend the birth?
* Where did you give birth: home, a birth center, or a hospital?
* If you feel comfortable doing so, please tell me the story of the birth, including who was there, where it took place, what medical interventions occurred, and any procedures that were performed before, during, or after the birth. You may be brief or very detailed, depending on your comfort level. For my purposes, the more detailed, the better, but please share with me only what you are comfortable sharing.
* What was the post partum time like for you? How long did it last? Where was it spent? How often did you see your doctor/midwife?
Comparing care in the United States and care elsewhere.
* How is health care different? What similarities have you noticed?
* Do you feel the health care provided in the United States is better or worse than health care provided to you elsewhere? Please explain your answer in detail.
Please feel free to make any other comments regarding health care in the US or in the Middle East. I am particularly interested in differences and similarities in women’s care, and women’s access to care. I am also interested in the type of care that women receive. Thank you very much for your time!
0
I have several health care questions for Muslim women....
Started by
Guest_lorijds_*
, Mar 30 2005 04:38 AM
6 replies to this topic
#3
fragrant
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Posted 30 March 2005 - 03:49 PM
Welcome aboard, my friend 
There's a few things I would like you to know:
1) Muslims does not neccesarily means Arabs/middle eastern- though vice versa may be true.
2) Middle Eastern/ Arab countries are many and they vary. One Arab country can be very different than the other. So you must know that one arab sister's experience from one country does not neccessarily means that the same experience is felt from other arab countries as well. For starters, Saudi Arabia has different policy than Yemen has different policy than Egypt has different policy than UAE has different policy than Syria has different policy than Tunisia has different policy than Algeria has different policy than Lebanon and so on and so forth.
Just want to clarify those things up first before you get started :wink:
Welcome again
_Fragrant_
There's a few things I would like you to know:
1) Muslims does not neccesarily means Arabs/middle eastern- though vice versa may be true.
2) Middle Eastern/ Arab countries are many and they vary. One Arab country can be very different than the other. So you must know that one arab sister's experience from one country does not neccessarily means that the same experience is felt from other arab countries as well. For starters, Saudi Arabia has different policy than Yemen has different policy than Egypt has different policy than UAE has different policy than Syria has different policy than Tunisia has different policy than Algeria has different policy than Lebanon and so on and so forth.
Just want to clarify those things up first before you get started :wink:
Welcome again
_Fragrant_
#4 Guest_lorijds_*
Posted 31 March 2005 - 04:54 AM
Thank you, fragrant and muslim2002 for your responses. Yes, I realize that there are many different cultures, religions, and affiliations that make up the Middle East; kind of like the United States. To some degree, the direction my paper takes depends upon the information I gather; for example, if mainly women from Saudi Arabia contact me, then probably I would do a sort of comparison of Saudi and standard US women's health care.
I currently have a variety of responses from Muslim and non-Muslim women in the Middle East and the US. I'm interested to see where this takes me!
Thank you again for the warm welcome; I love boards like this, full of sisterhood and support. I thank you for your time and energies, ladies.
Lori
I currently have a variety of responses from Muslim and non-Muslim women in the Middle East and the US. I'm interested to see where this takes me!
Thank you again for the warm welcome; I love boards like this, full of sisterhood and support. I thank you for your time and energies, ladies.
Lori
#5
Posted 02 April 2005 - 09:05 AM
I would love to help you! I had a different experience though. I was American, dealing with doctors through my husband. I did not speak French or Arabic! In addition, the country I was in was very French, even the doctors went to France to study. In fact, one doctor I saw was French! My sister in law works in the hospital as a nurse and my other one had a baby while I was there. Anyway, if you want I can tell you about my experience. I saw a dentist and three different gyno’s. It cost around forty diners (35 $) a visit, paid there, and they do an ultrasound every time and examine you (every time) however, it is not common for a normal pregnancy to be seen every month. Anyway, I did not have the baby over there so I can not speak for the hospitals, I only know that when my sister in law had hers(), she could only be visted through a window from the outside and we had to bring her food. I know that my other sister in law( just had her baby) was in a differnt hospital that treated her like she was at the Ritzs!!
#6
Posted 02 April 2005 - 04:02 PM
General:
* How old are you? 37
* Where were you born? Barcelona Spain
* Where do you currently live? USA
If you have spent any time in a middle eastern country, the following questions refer to your life during that time period. Please specify which country and what year(s) your answers refer to. Jordan - very rural area, had to travel to the city to see a doctor. between 1997-99
* What sort of health care do women typically receive? Mostly OBGYN What sort of health care have you received? Dental, general
* How frequently, and under what conditions, did you seek out health care? When I had a tooth ache, to do some expensive dental work that was cheaper there, and if I had an occasional general problem. I "probably" had cholera once, and was treated by a pharmasist since antibiotics are over the counter. Although that is not the general treatment due to fever that is what I was given.
* Who pays for health care (the woman, her family, an insurance company, the government, etc?) The husband, father and there is public healthcare that costs very very little.
* How is health care accessed? Public Clinic, private doctors office. You can walk in at both. Clinics have a long wait, doctors are relatively inexpensive and (around $3-4 dinars: $7-10) You see a doctor not a nurse. There are also military hospitals where most women give birth.
* Do you have a separate doctor for “women’s issues” and illness (for example, if you develops a sore throat, do you see the same doctor that you would see if you needed pregnancy care)? That is up to the woman. Many women see male doctors however.
* What sort of care does a women’s health care provider give: birth control pills, pregnancy care, pap smears? All - including blood work.
* What sort of practitioners are available to you: doctors, midwifes, nurses? I do not know - I only saw family use doctors, however some women do not go to get care in rural areas until the very end of a pregnancy.
* How old are you? 37
* Where were you born? Barcelona Spain
* Where do you currently live? USA
If you have spent any time in a middle eastern country, the following questions refer to your life during that time period. Please specify which country and what year(s) your answers refer to. Jordan - very rural area, had to travel to the city to see a doctor. between 1997-99
* What sort of health care do women typically receive? Mostly OBGYN What sort of health care have you received? Dental, general
* How frequently, and under what conditions, did you seek out health care? When I had a tooth ache, to do some expensive dental work that was cheaper there, and if I had an occasional general problem. I "probably" had cholera once, and was treated by a pharmasist since antibiotics are over the counter. Although that is not the general treatment due to fever that is what I was given.
* Who pays for health care (the woman, her family, an insurance company, the government, etc?) The husband, father and there is public healthcare that costs very very little.
* How is health care accessed? Public Clinic, private doctors office. You can walk in at both. Clinics have a long wait, doctors are relatively inexpensive and (around $3-4 dinars: $7-10) You see a doctor not a nurse. There are also military hospitals where most women give birth.
* Do you have a separate doctor for “women’s issues” and illness (for example, if you develops a sore throat, do you see the same doctor that you would see if you needed pregnancy care)? That is up to the woman. Many women see male doctors however.
* What sort of care does a women’s health care provider give: birth control pills, pregnancy care, pap smears? All - including blood work.
* What sort of practitioners are available to you: doctors, midwifes, nurses? I do not know - I only saw family use doctors, however some women do not go to get care in rural areas until the very end of a pregnancy.
#7 Guest_lorijds_*
Posted 02 May 2005 - 05:37 PM
I have just a few follow up questions?
How do you feel about access for *all women* if you are in a middle eastern/Muslim country? For example, in the US, access is varied, but it is safe to say that poor women have much less access and fewer options than a women of the middle and upper classes. In part this is due to our convoluted insurance and health care system.
Also, how is access affected by age? Do you think teens have as much access to health care as do women in their 20s?
Another intimate question...at what age does one begin having pap smears, and how frequently do you repeat them?
Any comments would be appreciated....and, just fyi, the paper is due this Thursday.... :!:
How do you feel about access for *all women* if you are in a middle eastern/Muslim country? For example, in the US, access is varied, but it is safe to say that poor women have much less access and fewer options than a women of the middle and upper classes. In part this is due to our convoluted insurance and health care system.
Also, how is access affected by age? Do you think teens have as much access to health care as do women in their 20s?
Another intimate question...at what age does one begin having pap smears, and how frequently do you repeat them?
Any comments would be appreciated....and, just fyi, the paper is due this Thursday.... :!:
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