Obstetric care for resident immigrant women in Argentina compared with Argentine women

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate inequities in obstetric care in Argentina between women from Argentina and resident immigrants. Methods: A secondary analysis was performed using data generated from a prospective, multicenter, descriptive study conducted in 2008 that assessed perinatal care in 12 public hospitals in the city of Buenos Aires and 70 public hospitals in Buenos Aires Province. In the original study, eligible women answered questions about their obstetric history, sociodemographic characteristics, and prenatal and intrapartum care within 48 hours of delivery. In the present analysis, the associations between nationality and prenatal care, intrapartum care, and perinatal outcome were determined. Results: The study included 10 898 women. The sociodemographic characteristics were similar between the groups, although the proportion of adolescents was higher among Argentines than among immigrants (20.1% versus 12.5%), whereas immigrant women were less educated (30.7% of the immigrant women reported 0–6 years of education compared with 7.3% of Argentines). Likewise, there were few differences in obstetric care during pregnancy and delivery, and the pregnancy outcomes were also similar between the groups. Conclusion: There were few clinically significant differences in medical care between Argentine women and resident immigrant women during the prepartum and intrapartum periods.