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Cathy Chen ’25 Studies Prenatal Care in Utica’s Refugee Community

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Cathy Chen ’25 is one of 26 student fellows who completed research with a community-based organization in upstate New York this summer as a part of the Upstate Institute Summer Field School.

I completed a Field School Fellowship with the Center in Utica this summer. The Center is a refugee resettlement agency that provides resettlement, education, and community resources and services for refugees, immigrants, and also residents in the city of Utica. With more than 14 separate programs including citizenship, employment, traffic safety, and English language class, a newly arrived refugee can access resources that cover every aspect of life from green card application to professional skills development and infant car seat installation. The Center’s work with refugees from around the world has changed Utica into a diverse and vibrant community, with over 17,000 refugees resettled since 1981 and more than 15 languages spoken at the Center.

I had a misunderstanding about the refugee population before starting working at the Center. They are forced to leave their homeland, family, and everything they loved due to wars, persecution, or political reasons. The refugees with whom I worked are hard-working and strong-minded to restart a life here. Research shows that the resettlement of refugees has made this country better with their assiduous spirit, fast learning, and unique skill sets. The Center has the mission to foster and enhance the welcoming environment in Utica. Its work with people on the edges of society (at either end of the spectrum when it comes to wealth, privilege, and power) requires great empathy and endurance, and I am amazed by the Center’s work in generating and distributing resources to refugees and paving the path to achieving their personal success.

I worked with Jennifer VanWagoner, manager of grants and community engagement. My project focused on prenatal care and education and aims to generate actionable insights to build up an educational and birth support program here in the future. Many refugee and immigrant women in the United States experience cultural and language barriers when seeking pregnancy-related medical care. Such barriers may delay needed care and adversely impact birth outcomes. By giving better guidance through the program, the Center would help to raise refugee women and their family’s awareness and spread maternal health literacy, which is a known predictor of perinatal outcomes.

I started by reading research papers and collecting data about how low English proficiency and cultural barriers among refugees could lead to a lack of adequate prenatal care and increase the risk of complications during pregnancy. With an in-depth understanding of the needs and difficulties, I interviewed refugee women who had given birth in Utica and gained insight by accessing prenatal care and other nonprofits and refugee resettlement agencies’ programs about childbirth education.

It is essential that members of the healthcare team (including hospital staff, healthcare providers, and medical interpreters) receive cultural sensitivity training that includes topics such as patients’ cultures, traditions, and values as well as their expectations of delivery. Then, the team could better assist the overall experience and enhance communication between the parties. Also, ensuring that the interpreters are trained in medical competency is fundamental during the diagnostic process: refugee women with limited English proficiency will be able to understand and follow certain medical routines and treatments and exhibit a higher return rate.

The experience of working in the nonprofit sector this summer has helped me to grow into a strong communicator, creative problem-solver, and empathetic teammate. The experience has cultivated all these soft skills that are transferable, and has been incredibly valuable to my personal growth and potential career direction. I am very grateful to work with Summer Field School, where I am able to dabble in the field of public health, which intrigues me, and also make tangible contributions to the local community.