Specialized Health Care for Women of All Nationalities

At Ginesur we believe in a holistic understanding of sexual and reproductive health. Health is not merely the absence of disease but a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing, as defined by WHO. In our centers we strive to serve women and especially foreign women applying this concept of health.

Foreign women have specific characteristics derived from their culture, the process of adaptation to a new country and sometimes their particular understanding of “health”. They are women who require a little more attention, which sometimes must be added to difficulties in understanding our language and lack of time and economical resources. It is for this reason that Ginesur professionals make an effort to understand their idiosyncrasies and try to meet their requests.

One of the actions we have taken in ACAI regarding termination of pregnancy is the translation of our informed consent forms into nine languages, the most frequent ones we come across: Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, Romanian, French, English, Polish and Bulgarian. Furthermore, we have a short medical history questionnaire written in these languages so we can get to know important medical issues before we perform any surgical procedure, as well as a post-operative recommendations brochure used in order women to know what is normal and is not normal and when they should seek for health assistance, so they can feel safer in every moment. In addition, we frequently use the translation service offered by the SAS, which enables us to communicate by phone with several language´s translators. These services facilitate the autonomy of foreign women who have to undergo an abortion because they will not necessarily have to rely on someone to accompany them and translate them, which can be difficult for women who are alone or want to keep their confidentiality.

Regarding contraception there are also differences in beliefs or preferences in the use of contraception methods by women of different nationalities. Sometimes we find patients who do not know or do not accept some of the available methods. For instance, a method like the vaginal ring, that needs to be inserted into the vagina, is not easily accepted in some cultures. Likewise, the consistency needed in the use of certain hormonal methods, such as the pill or the patch, can also be another factor to consider for many of these women. For all this, we provide personal care to every woman in our centers, taking into consideration their culture and trying to meet their demands without judgment.

For some other women it is important to find close and accessible professional in the field of gynecology and obstetrics who can understand their concerns. Sometimes they can face certain obstacles, not just related to the language but also to differences in medical procedures that can be not the same to the ones performed in their home country. We have professionals who speak fluent English, French, Russian and Ukrainian and can provide personal advising and specific follow-up.

In Ginesur we firmly believe that anything related to health should be consider from a holistic point of view of the person but even more emphatically when related to sexual and reproductive health because sexuality is a cross-dimensional aspect of human life, where all emotional relationships, children, relationship with other people and acceptance of our own body are essential parts of every women, and different for every culture or personal beliefs.