Barriers to Reproductive Justice for Women Seeking Sanctuary in the UK: Narratives from Birth Companions and the Maternity Stream of Sanctuary

Women living in the UK with insecure immigration status are often from ethnic minority groups, have limited understanding of English, and have significant experience of trauma. Recent confidential inquiries into maternal deaths have repeatedly shown how intersecting and multiple disadvantage puts these women at higher risk of maternal mortality and morbidity. Multiple voluntary sector organisations are relied upon to support these women as they navigate the journey to parenthood. A reproductive justice framework is here employed to examine the multitude of factors intersecting to influence the access women with insecure migrant status have to maternity services. Narrative construction of three composite case studies took place to highlight the various ways reproductive justice is both violated and protected by the immigration and maternity systems in the UK. The discussion section comments on prevalent themes throughout each case study: gendered dynamics of insecure immigration status, structural barriers and complex systems, and reliance on the fragile voluntary sector. This article concludes that, alongside the work of the voluntary sector, women’s reproductive justice rights must also be emphasised and protected throughout statutory systems and services.