Maternal Health Care and Pregnancy Outcomes in Undocumented Migrant Women in Norway.

Little research on the health service utilization and the health situation of undocumented pregnant migrants has been performed previously, and it is essential to obtain more information on the services given, and to examine whether residency status is a risk factor in maternal and perinatal health among migrants.This project will give new knowledge on undocumented women seeking care at the voluntary clinics and the emergency clinics (DEGPs) in Oslo and Bergen, their health care needs, and the medical follow-up they are provided. The project will present new knowledge by showing trends in undocumented pregnant migrants care seeking compared to general trends among other migrants and Norwegian residents. It will also give new knowledge on pregnancy outcomes and perinatal health in undocumented migrants compared to foreign and Norwegian born women. This approach has not previously been used to study undocumented migrants in Norway, and there are very few similar studies in other European countries. Cause and effect relations are rarely claimed in findings from observational epidemiologic studies, however the information from three different sources (voluntary clinics, emergency clinics and Medical Birth Registry) will give an overall picture of the use of primary health care in undocumented pregnant migrants, as well as a comparative assessment of maternal outcomes in this population. The proposed research will also give important knowledge on how to conduct quantitative research in a population that is difficult to reach, and that is not commonly included in research.