Epidural analgesia in first time mothers in relation to country of birth and migration to Norwayand migration to Norway

Background With growing levels of international migration, inequity in care is an increasingly important subject in Western countries, also in relation to maternity care. The decision to use epidural analgesia during labor... [ view full abstract ]

Background

With growing levels of international migration, inequity in care is an increasingly important subject in Western countries, also in relation to maternity care. The decision to use epidural analgesia during labor is influenced not only by the woman’s need of an effective pain relief, but also by her socio-economic background and the local cultural practice in the delivery unit. Insufficient communication, lack of knowledge or midwives’ attitudes could either increase or decrease the epidural rates in migrant women of different origin. The aim of the study was to investigate the associations between migration related factors (country of birth and citizenship, reason for migration, migration status, length of residence and the baby’s father’s country of birth) and epidural analgesia in a Norwegian population based sample of primiparous women.

Method

Data on 522 447 primiparous women who gave birth in Norway between year 2000 and 2013 were retrieved from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN) and was then linked to data from Statistics Norway. Logistic regression analysis was conducted and adjustments were made for confounding factors, such as age, education, income, reproductive background, medical history, year of birth, labour onset, dystocia, gestational age and infant birth weight.

Results

The findings are preliminary and the final results will be presented at the conference.

Discussion/Conclusion

Differences in the use of epidural analgesia between migrant and Norwegian-born women will be discussed in relation to migration indicators, cultural practices and inequity of care.

This project is funded by Western Norway University of Applied Sciences