Prenatal health of immigrant women in Norway - an exploratory literature review.

BACKGROUND

Immigrant women are a vulnerable group within Norwegian prenatal care and have an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. The purpose of this exploratory literature review was to compile an overview of the available knowledge on the prenatal health of immigrant women in Norway.

EVIDENCE BASE

The literature review covers 44 peer-reviewed articles on the prenatal health of immigrant women in Norway. The articles reflect a variety of study designs and were published in the period 2000-2019. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Maternity & Infant Care Database and SveMed+.

RESULTS

Frequently studied topics included gestational diabetes, obesity, hyperemesis gravidarum, preeclampsia and folate use. We found a considerable variation in the disease risk for different sub-groups of immigrants.

INTERPRETATION

Little research has been conducted on especially vulnerable immigrant groups, such as new arrivals, undocumented immigrants and refugees. We recommend that future studies consider using a qualitative research design that sheds light on the experiences of immigrant families, as well as intervention studies that test the effectiveness of measures for improving prenatal care.