October News - Women Through the Century: Health
Staying Healthy Still a Struggle
Traveller women's health situation has changed down through the years. Mary Collins and Kathleen Joyce, Community Health Workers with Pavee Point's Primary Health Care for Travellers Project, explain.
Gone are the days when Traveller women had their babies in tents at the side of the road or had to go begging while in the first stages of labour. In those days, it was not uncommon for mother and baby to die because of lack of medical intervention and lack of prenatal or postnatal care.
In the year 2000, few Traveller mothers die because nearly all Traveller children are born in hospital. But, Traveller babies are still twice as likely to be stillborn and 10 times more likely to die of a cot death than babies in the general population.
In the past Travellers tended to have bigger families. Many did not use contraception because of their religious beliefs and, with so many children expected to die, it made sense for Travellers to have a big families. Although family size has decreased health problems remain.
To date very few Traveller women attend a hospital for any kind of medical care during pregnancy. Traveller children suffer constant disease and chest infections. Travellers use hospital casualty centres a lot more than settled people because, it's the only place they are sure to receive a service.
Living conditions have a big impact on our health. In the past Travellers' tents were damp, there was no sanitation, no water supply and no transport. Living conditions still have a big impact on Traveller health. Today, there are still 1207 families living on the side of the road with no facilities.
A lot of the sites allocated to Travellers by County Councils are built on land that would be deemed inappropriate for Local Authority housing. The sites are often beside main roads, near dumps, miles away from shops and schools, doctors or local health centres. And sometimes the sites are not on a bus route.
Discrimination also effects Traveller women's health and overall wellbeing. When we are followed around shops, refused access to services and public places and threatened with eviction, it's no wonder Traveller women suffer from depression and other illnesses.
The one thing that has changed for the better is education. More Traveller women participate in courses. And, with the training of Traveller health workers there has been high up take of cervical screening, breast screening and other preventative health checks.
But, the overall status of Traveller women's health remains largely unchanged. Traveller women, today, have a life expectancy equivalent to that of a settled woman in the 1940s.
Six ways to improve the health of Traveller women:
- Legislation to protect Travellers from discrimination
- Anti-racism training for health professionals
- Training for health professionals on Traveller health needs
- Proper accommodation to be provided for Travellers
- Extension of Primary Health Care projects to train Traveller women as health care workers throughout the country
- Increased access to WellWoman clinics
"Travellers use hospital casualty centres a lot more than settled people because, it's the only place they are sure to receive a service."