Racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care: a scoping review
Abstract Background Despite equality and quality being the core of good healthcare, racial and ethnic inequalities continue to persist. Racialized groups, including racialized migrant women, experience various forms of discrimination—particularly during maternal care encounters, where intersectional...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal for Equity in Health |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02384-8 |
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| author | Jasmine Therese Arcilla Alexandra Nanou Sarah Hamed Fatumo Osman |
| author_facet | Jasmine Therese Arcilla Alexandra Nanou Sarah Hamed Fatumo Osman |
| author_sort | Jasmine Therese Arcilla |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Despite equality and quality being the core of good healthcare, racial and ethnic inequalities continue to persist. Racialized groups, including racialized migrant women, experience various forms of discrimination—particularly during maternal care encounters, where intersectional forms of discrimination may occur. Experiences of discrimination in maternal care have been associated with poor health-seeking behavior and adverse maternal health outcomes. However, research on racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care is limited. This scoping review aims to give an overview of the state of current research on the discriminatory experiences of racialized migrant women when utilizing maternal healthcare and its gaps to ensure equity in global maternal healthcare. Methodology This scoping review mapped out all available English-language scientific empirical literature published between 2012 and 2023. All authors agreed on the inclusion criteria. Collecting, charting, and reviewing the included material were done using the 2018 Preferred Reporting Items for reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. The search strategy included electronic databases, such as Pubmed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and PsycInfo. Results A total of 57 articles were included and analyzed. The majority were qualitative and conducted in European and North American countries. None of the included article’s aims originally intended to focus on discrimination. However, their findings exposed the many ways racialized migrant women experienced discrimination when using maternal healthcare services—from accessibility problems, non-utilization of interpreters, and untimely and delayed care to disrespect, abuse, and differential care. Racialized migrant women’s discrimination resulted in a lack of agency and being excluded from decision-making. Conclusions While the included articles allude to some issues related to discrimination in maternal healthcare experienced by racialized migrant women, this review delineated knowledge gaps warranting discussion. Few articles focus on and conceptualize discrimination from a racialized lens in maternal healthcare. A limited geographical scope in research and knowledge generation on discrimination and racialization exist in this field as does a lack of sufficient articles on discrimination and racism from healthcare personnel. Lastly, many of the existing studies lack an intersectional lens in exploring discrimination in maternal care against racialized migrant women. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-46381f6ba2af4301aafc8c8217a30096 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1475-9276 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal for Equity in Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-46381f6ba2af4301aafc8c8217a300962025-01-26T12:20:44ZengBMCInternational Journal for Equity in Health1475-92762025-01-0124111910.1186/s12939-025-02384-8Racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care: a scoping reviewJasmine Therese Arcilla0Alexandra Nanou1Sarah Hamed2Fatumo Osman3School of Health and Welfare, Dalarna UniversitySchool of Health and Welfare, Dalarna UniversityKing’s College London Institute of PsychiatrySchool of Health and Welfare, Dalarna UniversityAbstract Background Despite equality and quality being the core of good healthcare, racial and ethnic inequalities continue to persist. Racialized groups, including racialized migrant women, experience various forms of discrimination—particularly during maternal care encounters, where intersectional forms of discrimination may occur. Experiences of discrimination in maternal care have been associated with poor health-seeking behavior and adverse maternal health outcomes. However, research on racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care is limited. This scoping review aims to give an overview of the state of current research on the discriminatory experiences of racialized migrant women when utilizing maternal healthcare and its gaps to ensure equity in global maternal healthcare. Methodology This scoping review mapped out all available English-language scientific empirical literature published between 2012 and 2023. All authors agreed on the inclusion criteria. Collecting, charting, and reviewing the included material were done using the 2018 Preferred Reporting Items for reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. The search strategy included electronic databases, such as Pubmed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and PsycInfo. Results A total of 57 articles were included and analyzed. The majority were qualitative and conducted in European and North American countries. None of the included article’s aims originally intended to focus on discrimination. However, their findings exposed the many ways racialized migrant women experienced discrimination when using maternal healthcare services—from accessibility problems, non-utilization of interpreters, and untimely and delayed care to disrespect, abuse, and differential care. Racialized migrant women’s discrimination resulted in a lack of agency and being excluded from decision-making. Conclusions While the included articles allude to some issues related to discrimination in maternal healthcare experienced by racialized migrant women, this review delineated knowledge gaps warranting discussion. Few articles focus on and conceptualize discrimination from a racialized lens in maternal healthcare. A limited geographical scope in research and knowledge generation on discrimination and racialization exist in this field as does a lack of sufficient articles on discrimination and racism from healthcare personnel. Lastly, many of the existing studies lack an intersectional lens in exploring discrimination in maternal care against racialized migrant women.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02384-8Migrant womenRacializedDiscriminationMaternal healthcareBarriersIntersectionality |
| spellingShingle | Jasmine Therese Arcilla Alexandra Nanou Sarah Hamed Fatumo Osman Racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care: a scoping review International Journal for Equity in Health Migrant women Racialized Discrimination Maternal healthcare Barriers Intersectionality |
| title | Racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care: a scoping review |
| title_full | Racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care: a scoping review |
| title_fullStr | Racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care: a scoping review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care: a scoping review |
| title_short | Racialized migrant women’s discrimination in maternal care: a scoping review |
| title_sort | racialized migrant women s discrimination in maternal care a scoping review |
| topic | Migrant women Racialized Discrimination Maternal healthcare Barriers Intersectionality |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02384-8 |
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