Complications, Healthcare and Psychological Distress in Pregnant Women with a Migrant Background View PDF

^*Akanksha Mehra
Medicine, Government Medical College, India

^*Corresponding Author:

Akanksha Mehra
Medicine, Government Medical College, India

Published on: 2024-08-02

Abstract

Migrant women have a lower level of prenatal healthcare consumption and a higher level of perinatal complications, according to previous studies. To examine whether migrant women differ from native women in terms of pregnancy complications, healthcare consumption, and psychological distress, there are several researchers, who conducted a study in a country with free healthcare access. The short communication includes native women of different regions and women with migrant backgrounds who sought antenatal care in different hospitals. The medical records of pregnant women from different hospitals and published papers were analyzed to determine complications and healthcare consumption. The covariates were adjusted in regression analyses. During this study, women with migrant backgrounds reported higher levels of depression, even after socioeconomic factors were considered. Psychological distress was associated with more hospital admissions during pregnancy. When experiencing depressive symptoms, women with a migrant background had an increased risk to be admitted. Compared to native women, women with migrant backgrounds did not have different pregnancy-related complications, except for diabetes, nor did they consume health care differently. A migrant background, however, is associated with more depressive symptoms, and people who are depressed are more likely to be hospitalized. Providing better healthcare for this population requires further research

Keywords

Psychological distress, Migrant, Healthcare, Pregnancy

Introduction

The pregnancy outcomes of migrant women in high-income countries are often worse than those of native women, although some studies have not found this correlation. There may be a reason why migrant women consume less prenatal healthcare, which could be caused by the way healthcare is organized [1]. Secondly, epidemiological studies have shown that migrant women are more likely to experience psychological distress (depressive and/or anxiety symptoms) than their native counterparts, not just during pregnancy when it is often associated with poor outcomes. Discrimination, acculturation, and social support can all have an effect on psychological distress. Psychological distress may moderate the association between migrant background and perinatal complications, however. We know of only two studies that have examined the relationship between migrants’ backgrounds and psychological distress or pregnancy outcomes [2, 3].