Pregnancy experience among West-African migrant women during covid-19 pandemic in France

Background: The health crisis led to numerus questions regarding health care measures, psychological experience of lockdown, and health care access inequities according to migration status during pregnancy. This qualitative study explores the subjective experience and cultural representations around pregnancy and mother-child bond among migrant mothers of first and second generation during the Covid-19 pandemic in France. Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews to collect the experience of migrant mothers from West Africa who had given birth between October 2021 and may 2022 (in between covid’s 4th and 6th wave) in two maternity hospitals in France. We used interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the data. Results: Nine mothers, first and second generation of migrants from West African countries were included. Three different themes emerged: increased holding capacities from health-workers and family concerning pregnancy issues in the pandemic context; mothers’ wisdom in their description of the pandemic; and increased awareness induced by pandemic context on cultural representations and mental shuffle regarding motherhood. Conclusion: More generally, our research is an invitation to reflect on health care inequalities and how to deal with cultural differences during perinatal period, regardless of the sanitary or political context.