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In 2011 the Maternity Stream of City of Sanctuary was started by a group of asylum seeking and refugee women who volunteered as Health Befrienders for the Refugee Council in Leeds. They didn’t want other mums “to suffer as we had suffered”. They teamed up with other people committed to working with asylum seeking and refugee women to form the Maternity Stream of Sanctuary.

We are now an expanding network of people and groups based in different towns and cities across the Yorkshire and Humberside region and the stream is also working across the UK. We are asylum seeking and refugee service users, representatives from refugee organisations and other charities, midwives and midwifery students, commissioners, educators and researchers.

What are our aims?

  • To ensure asylum seeking and refugee women’s voices are heard and considered when discussing the development of maternity related services and support groups.
  • To develop maternity services and support groups that are welcoming and inclusive for pregnant asylum seeking and refugee women and are designed to meet their specific health and social care needs.
  • To help asylum seeking and refugee women overcome the barriers they experience when accessing maternity services, understanding their choices and attending for care in a timely manner.
  • To develop a supportive community for asylum seeking and refugee women, including a forum for sharing relevant resources.

The Yorkshire & Humber Maternity Stream group is now a registered charity.

To get involved in the Yorkshire and Humber region please contact:
[email protected]

To get involved elsewhere in the UK please contact:
[email protected]