Barriers to Reproductive Justice for Women Seeking Sanctuary in the UK

Drawing upon the reproductive justice framework, and the work of Birth Companions and the Maternity Stream of Sanctuary, this article uses three composite narratives to highlight the barriers to reproductive justice for women with insecure immigration status in the UK.

It examines the multitude of factors intersecting to influence the extent to which women with insecure immigration status are able to access their rights to safe and appropriate maternity care in the UK, and 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.

By Katherine Miller Brunton (Birth Companions) and Katherine Waterfall (Maternity Stream of Sanctuary and the University of East Anglia)