Pregnancy and maternity health of immigrant women in Portugal

Background: The limited data available suggest that immigrant women in Portugal are at high risk for negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes. The study aim to understand immigrant women perception, attitudes, and needs in relation to pregnancy and maternity health.
Methods: Six focus groups were conducted in 2008 with a purposeful sample of 35 low income immigrant women from Brazil and Portuguese Speaking African Countries, aged 18-45 years, living in Lisbon, Portugal. Content analysis was used to analyze the data obtained.
Results: The results identified differences related to cultural beliefs and norms between African and Brazilian women that play an important role in the adoption of practices related to pregnancy and maternity health. Participants described a dynamic process between the challenges they faced moving to a different society and cultural expectations that determine perceptions, attitudes and consequently choices that can make them more vulnerable to maternity health. There is an interception of social, cultural, economic and personal factors that characterize diverse immigration’s experiences. Data from women’s discourse reveal that frequently they faced situations characterized by human rights violation, discrimination, social inequalities and exclusion. The results showed that women faced reduced access to health care services due to structural, administrative, social, economic and cultural barriers.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that efforts must be tailored to the specific needs of immigrant women with different sexual and reproductive experiences and expectations, and must address the cultural, social, economic and psychological context in which they live. In order to ensure effective health care, providers must be sensitive to deal with different cultural and value systems that have impact on decision-making related to pregnancy and maternity health and use of health care services.