Insights from ERicar: Engaging Roma women in the co-creation of an antenatal care information resource

Czech Slovak Roma women suffer barriers to antenatal care such as discriminatory attitudes, contributing to reduced engagement with health services, but there is a scarcity of research and intervention studies with this population. The ERicar project aimed to understand maternity needs through co-creating a prototype of an antenatal care community information resource with a group of these women in the North of England. The project consisting of eight participatory workshops with 11 women enabled an understanding of Roma women's needs in pregnancy, childbirth, and maternity services, and the sharing publicly available resources such as pregnancy apps. This led to the co-creation of a little booklet (zine) to meet their community needs. The women's pregnancy journeys covered several topics such as unplanned pregnancies, nausea and vomiting, pregnancy loss and birth trauma. Through all these, the main message they wished to convey was the need for women in the community to overcome the stigma of seeking help for their mental health. The aim of this article is to share the insights from our participatory approach of engaging with Roma women, harnessing their creative abilities from the telling of their pregnancy journeys. Our qualitative findings are presented with a focus on migration history with its effects of systemic racism, informed through the lens of intersectionality. In addition, we aim to demonstrate the potential of the resource that was developed to improve the community's access to antenatal care information resources.