Aim: This paper explores the concept of migrant women as used in European healthcare literature in context of pregnancy to provide a clearer understanding of the concept for use in research and service delivery.Methods: Walker and Avant's method of concept analysis. Results:The literature demonstrates ambiguity around the concept; most papers do not provide an explicit or detailed definition of the concept. They include the basic idea that women have moved from an identifiable region/country to the country in which the research is undertaken but fail to acknowledge adequately the heterogeneity of migrant women. The paper provides a definition of the concept as a descriptive theory and argues that research must include a clear definition of the migrant specific demographics of the women. This should include country/region of origin and host, status within the legal system of host country, type of migration experience, and length of residence. Conclusion:There is a need for a more systematic conceptualization of the idea of migrant women within European literature related to pregnancy experiences and outcomes to reflect the heterogeneity of this concept. To this end, the schema suggested in this paper should be adopted in future research. KEYWORDS concept, midwifery, migrant, nursing, pregnant, womenThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

When the experiences of migration and becoming a mother intersect, the context and conditions of this have implications for the health of the women and their children. This article presents an overview of social-science research on health and pregnancy among migrant women and on the perinatal and postpartum care they receive. Research on 124 studies on this subject revealed that there are three main themes associated with maternal health in this context: (1) How women are defined and categorised as migrants: This is often based on a single indicator, country of origin or birth. This creates a simplified and homogenising category that then also serves as the basis for the use of more complex categories. (2) The significance of social support for families, especially with respect to informal care, and the fundamental role of language and language barriers in health care. The relationship between migrant women and health-care providers is impacted by cultural differences, which leave women in a vulnerable position. (3) Macro-sociological and epidemiological factors. These are discussed mainly from the perspective of the 'epidemiological paradox', which the authors here deem a rhetorical trick because it conceals the variableness of the findings obtained from perinatal health indicators. keywords: perinatal health, healthy immigrant effect, acculturation, migrant women, epidemiological paradox, health care

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