In the theoretical part of my master's thesis, I defined immigration and professional
engagement with migrants within the fields of health care and social work. I focused on the
challenges midwives and social workers face, with an emphasis on language barriers and the
cultural competence of the said professionals. The empirical part of the research is based on
semi-structured interviews. I presented the challenges experienced by the midwives at the
Ljubljana Maternity Hospital and social workers at the Gynaecological Clinic of the Ljubljana University Medical Centre using thematic analysis. The findings from nine interviews revealed that both social workers and midwives encounter foreign-speaking women almost daily. The women most frequently originating from the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Working with foreign-speaking women poses an additional workload and stress for the workers, as well as numerous challenges, with communication being the most prominent one. The participants reported using various strategies to overcome linguistic barriers, including simplified verbal communication, non-verbal communication, online translation tools, assistance from Slovene-speaking partners and translation booklets. The inclusion of professional interpreters and translators was highlighted as a key measure to improve communication. Midwives and social workers demonstrated a clear awareness of the significance that cultural competence has in their practice. They understand it as the ability to respect and accept diverse cultures, customs and traditions. Although they perceive themselves as well-adapted to intercultural work, they also emphasized the need for greater cultural competence among the women who use their services. In the discussion section, I compared the empirical findings with theoretical frameworks and thus answered the research questions. The thesis concludes with key findings and recommendations for future practice.
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