School of Social and Political Science

Description

Maternity, Migration, and Asylum in Scotland (MAMAS) is a research project that uses a reproductive justice framework to explore migrant women’s* experiences of pregnancy and motherhood in Glasgow, examining how reproduction shapes and is shaped by migration, the asylum system, and settlement in Scotland.

MAMAS consisted of two and a half years of ethnographic research, interviews, focus groups, and creative arts-based methods, including textile art, printing, quilting, and filmmaking with women with experience of precarious migration in Glasgow, Scotland. These women were from across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and had varying immigration statuses, including asylum seekers, refugees, survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation, students, and people with dependant’s visas. 

* all project participants were cisgender women, but the research team use an inclusive definition of ‘women’, and we recognise the importance of understanding the needs of trans and non-binary parents

The Team

Dr Lucy Lowe is a senior lecturer in social and medical anthropology.

Dr Anna Beesley is a researcher with a background in anthropology, forced migration, and asylum.

Nurture Together: A community-led, trauma-informed approach to inclusive breastfeeding support

Women with experience of migration often have higher rates of breastfeeding in the UK when compared with their British counterparts, but such women often face obstacles during the perinatal period that can make it difficult to initiate and sustain breastfeeding. The Nurture Together project was developed by Amma Birth Companions and the MAMAS research team. We knew from our research and experience supporting women that mainstream breastfeeding support often overlooks the needs of people with experiences of migration, as well as other people who are marginalised and have experienced trauma. We worked collaboratively with a group of migrant women to design a peer support toolkit that was culturally safe and trauma informed to support parents with their knowledge, rights, and choices around infant feeding. 

The Nurture Together Toolkit

• A package of short accessible informational videos made by and for migrant parents and the people who support them.
• Amma breastfeeding peer support training package – building on Amma’s existing training framework, the modules focus on cultural safety, anti-racism, and trauma-informed peer support.
• A policy brief on the needs of perinatal migrant women.
• 10 key things to know for providing breastfeeding support to migrant women

Funding

MAMAS was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (Project ES/V012371/1) and Nurture Together was supported by the University of Edinburgh’s ESRC Impact Accelerator Grant (Project EDI-23/24-P0079)

Research Partners and Networks

Amma Birth Companions

Maternity Stream of Sanctuary