Immigrant pregnant women’s mental health in Germany : Perceptions and concepts of prevention of antenatal depression - a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: Important changes in the course of life can cause huge stress and lead to depression. Migration and pregnancy as a status passage can count among these stressful life events because both imply huge changes; this places immigrant pregnant women at a higher risk for developing antenatal depression. Therefore, the objective of this study is to learn more about the mental health of immigrant women during their pregnancy. Methods: Participants were recruited via purposeful and snowball sampling. Seven immigrant pregnant women were interviewed and three experts working as consultant for immigrants (including pregnant women). The interviews were transcribed and analysed using a phenomenological approach to capture the lived experiences of the participants. Through manual coding, the categories and sub-categories emerged via an inductive approach. Results: The study revealed that for the interviewed women, talking about psychological health is still a taboo. The immigrant pregnant women are at risk of antenatal depression for a variety of reasons: they expressed loneliness and useless, missing family support and care especially from their mothers, facing financial insecurity and discrimination. Their husband or partner, their spiritual beliefs and social support represent their protective factors during this transition to motherhood. The women think that only a health professional who has some knowledge of their culture and conditions could provide effective counselling. Conclusion: The immigrant pregnant women face multiple challenges which have an impact on their mental health. Further researches are needed to address and deal with mental health issues in population with a migration background in Germany. In particular more attention should be given to the mental wellbeing of pregnant immigrant women to prevent antenatal depression and its consequences. To enrich the results of this study on the mental health of immigrant pregnant women, a larger study is recommended.