This study aims to understand how asylum-seeking and refugee women in Scotland experience maternity care and how healthcare professionals perceive working with asylum-seeking and refugee women in maternity services. To achieve this, the study will use an explanatory sequential design. This means that the study will begin with a survey, followed by interviews with selected participants, with the aim of explaining the survey results. More details about the study design are below.

Asylum-seeking and refugee women in Scotland will be invited to complete a survey online or on paper. This survey will ask questions about their experiences of using maternity services in Scotland, and women will have a chance to write comments or feedback if they wish. The survey should take no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete. Agreeing to join the study does not mean that the participants have to complete it, they are free to withdraw at any time before submission.

After that, in the interview study phase, asylum-seeking and refugee women in Scotland, including those who completed the survey and expressed interest in participating in the interview study, will be invited to participate in the interviews. Also, HealthCare Professionals (HCPs) will be invited to participate in interviews to talk about their experiences providing care to asylum-seeking and refugee women in Scotland. The interviews will last approximately 30-60 minutes. The interviews will help to gain an in-depth understanding of the survey results. Potential participants will be encouraged not to agree to participate in this research until they have answers to any questions. For in-person interviews, participants will be asked to sign a consent form to show they agreed to participate while verbal consent will be obtained for online interviews. The participants can withdraw at any time, without giving a reason. If the participant agrees to participate, they will be invited to participate in an interview with the researcher. The interview can be conducted either online or face-to-face. All interviews will be recorded using a password-protected audio recorder. The researcher will arrange a convenient time at a location of the participant's choice to participate in the interview. The participants will be reassured that there are no right or wrong answers and that they do not have to answer all the questions. They can ask the researcher to move on to the next question if they do not wish.

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software will be used to conduct statistical analyses. Descriptive statistics and data visualisation will be employed to analyse quantitative data obtained from the survey. Free-text responses from the survey will be analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Any question in the survey without an answer will be considered a missing data point and will not be included in any analysis containing that variable.

The collected qualitative data from interviews will be entered into NVivo for coding, and inductive thematic analysis will be used, following Braun and Clarke's method. The mixed methods will enable the integration of quantitative and qualitative results during the interpretations and explanations. The findings will help inform local and national models of care and approaches and attitudes needed to support these women ultimately.