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We examined the experience of cesarean birth among 67 Cambodian, Lao and Vietnamese women who are now living in Melbourne, Australia, based on a larger ethnographic research project on childbearing, childrearing and motherhood among Southeast Asian women in Australia. We found a range of responses in the discourses of the women: some women preferred cesarean birth, but others resisted it. Women's social construction of their feelings stemmed from three interpretive frameworks: trust in medical knowledge, expectations (personal ideology of reproduction and motherhood) and communication with an understanding of their caregivers' preferences (as opposed to choice). Our findings have ramifications for health care providers working in multicultural settings. An effective dialogue between women and their health caregivers is required to keep the cesarean section rates down. In the case of immigrant women in a multicultural society like Australia, it is not the passive receipt of information but a two-way communication with adequate interpreter support that will lead to informed choice, fewer cesarean births, more satisfaction and less regret.

Objectives: to examine how Cambodian, Lao and Vietnamese women experience prenatal testing and to examine their knowledge and communication with health-care providers., Setting: Melbourne Metropolitan Area, Victoria, Australia., Design: an ethnographic study of childbearing and childrearing among women born in South-east Asia and now living in Melbourne, Australia reporting in-depth interviews with 67 women who had given birth in Australia., Findings: nearly all the women had prenatal testing as advised by their doctors and their main concerns were about their unborn baby and the need to follow doctors' advice. The women felt 'indifferent' towards prenatal testing, perceiving it as a normal part of antenatal care in Australia. Despite agreeing to undertake prenatal testing, the women did not have adequate understanding of the tests. This may be due to lack of information per se or inadequate communication between health providers and women., Implications for Practice: inevitably, the onus rests with the health-care provider to ensure that all options available to women are understood, so that women can make a positive and informed choice regardless of their social or cultural background. This will lead to women's increased satisfaction with care during pregnancy., (Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.)