Scoping Review on Maternal Health among Immigrant and Refugee Women in Canada: Prenatal, Intrapartum, and Postnatal Care

Abstract

The last fifteen years have seen a dramatic increase in both the childbearing age and diversity of women migrating to Canada. The resulting health impact underscores the need to explore access to health services and the related maternal health outcome. This article reports on the results of a scoping review focused on migrant maternal health within the context of accessible and effective health services during pregnancy and following delivery. One hundred and twenty-six articles published between 2000 and 2016 that met our inclusion criteria and related to this group of migrant women, with pregnancy/motherhood status, who were living in Canada, were identified. This review points at complex health outcomes among immigrant and refugee women that occur within the compelling gaps in our knowledge of maternal health during all phases of maternity. Throughout the prenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal periods of maternity, barriers to accessing healthcare services were found to disadvantage immigrant and refugee women putting them at risk for challenging maternal health outcomes. Interactions between the uptake of health information and factors related to the process of immigrant settlement were identified as major barriers. Availability of appropriate services in a country that provides universal healthcare is discussed.

Maternal and child health nurses work with refugee families: Perspectives from regional Victoria, Australia

“…Cultural differences, language difficulties, lack of awareness of available services and MCH nurses lack of understanding of the complexity of needs when working with this population were barriers identified by women. Notably, these barriers have been reported in the literature as common concerns for nurses and midwives in other jurisdictions (Drennan & Joseph, 2004;Khanlou, Haque, Skinner, Mantini, & Kurtz Landy, 2017).…”

Barriers and associated factors for adequate antenatal care among Afghan women in Iran; findings from a community-based survey

“…This nding was in line with the evidence from other developing countries. The weak infrastructure of health system and inadequate number of health professionals in some remote areas; particularly in government sector, reported to be the main reasons for such issues in most developing countries (36,37). Likewise; in Iran, these issues still exists in some remote areas.…”

“…Beside the lack of health insurance, several obstacles could reduce the access to quality and adequate maternity care among Afghan women in Iran. In previous studies, navigating ANC services, mothers' perception of quality of care, socioeconomic status, language, cultural, religious concern were some the most frequent reported reasons hindering the adequate access to ANC among immigrants and refugees (15). However, the diversity in context and population-speci c factors could contribute to variety in issues and concerns in accessing health system in different host countries.…”

Diagnosing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Refugees

“…Post-partum refugee women in Canada are more likely to experience depression, have a psychiatric emergency department visit, and have a psychiatric hospitalization than their immigrant and non-refugee counterparts. [17][18][19] Refugee youth, meanwhile, rely more on the emergency department as a first mental health contact than immigrant and non-refugee youth. 20 Although the exact role of trauma in health status is unclear, other health issues documented in refugees are increased morbidity, decreased life expectancy, and elevated acute and chronic health disparities.…”