Barriers and facilitators in maternal health care for migrants: Scoping Review
Published 2025-06-19
Keywords
- Barriers,
- Healthcare,
- Facilitators,
- Migrants,
- Women
- Maternal Health ...More
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2024 Naboué Schaars, Ana Carmona
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Introduction
Regarding the maternal health of migrant women, health results continue to fall short of what is intended. They describe several negative experiences, in a moment that should have been one of joy, as they had probably already experienced difficulties when traveling to another country, finding themselves vulnerable a priori.
Objective
Map scientific evidence on barriers and facilitators in maternal health care for migrant women.
Methods
The review was prepared in accordance with the JBI methodology guidelines, with a search in the databases, MEDLINE Ultimate, CINAHL Ultimate, MedicLatina, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PubMed and Web of Science, using the descriptors women, migrants, healthcare and maternal health. No temporal or linguistic limits were used. 229 articles were obtained, and the sources of evidence were selected, with the support of the Covidence tool. As inclusion criteria, articles were considered in which 1st generation migrant women from the diaspora were studied in the context of maternal health, obtaining 11 articles from which the respective results were extracted.
Results
Barriers were found in terms of communication, mainly the language barrier; at the cultural level, since professionals are unaware of the characteristics of different cultures or do not accept them; on an emotional and psychosocial level; religious, due to not wanting to be treated by male professionals; and also, at a social level. In terms of facilitators, the following were found: the use of interpreters or bilingual professionals, the training of health professionals on different cultures, continuity of care, culturally competent and person-centered care, and the presence of a significant person.
Conclusion
The identification of barriers as well as the identification of facilitators of maternal health care for migrant women allows health professionals to raise awareness about their provision of care to these women, promoting continuous improvement.