Pregnancy in immigrant women.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We wanted to study how foreign women face pregnancy and childbirth in a society quite different from their own. METHODS: In 2004 we studied 328 pregnant women at the Department of Gynaecology at the "General Hospital Umberto I" in Rome. Information on patients' personal lives and experiences was collected. RESULTS: Women were classified into six (6) groups based on nationality, race, religion and culture. CONCLUSIONS: Arabian women had the most natural childbirths. African women had a longer duration of gestation. Women from Eastern Europe underwent frequent tests and examinations, but had the highest chance of having preterm births. Chinese women did not usually undergo many examinations and were able to tolerate pain during childbirth quite well.