title: The impact of migration on women's mental health in the postpartum period.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the influence of I mmigration on the psychological health of women after childbirth.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, immigrant and Portuguese-native women delivering in the four public hospitals of the metropolitan area of Porto, Portugal, were contacted by telephone between February and December 2012 during the first postpartum month to schedule a home visit and fill in a questionnaire. Most immigrant (76.1%) and Portuguese mothers (80.0%) agreed to participate and with the visits, thus a total of 89 immigrants and 188 Portuguese women were included in the study. The questionnaire included the application of four validated scales: Mental Health Inventory-5, Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and Scale of Satisfaction with Social Support. Statistical analysis included t-test and Chi-square or Fisher's test, and logistic regression models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immigrants had an increased risk of postpartum depression (OR = 6.444, 95%CI 1.858-22.344), and of low satisfaction with social support (OR = 6.118, 95%CI 1.991-18.798). We did not perceive any associations between migrant state, perceived stress, and impoverished mental health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Immigrant mothers have increased vulnerabilities in the postpartum period, resulting in an increased risk of postpartum depression and lesser satisfaction with the received social support.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Saúde Pública. Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto. Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Lígia Moreira
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde. Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto. Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Costa-Santos
authors.affiliation: Universidade de Fortaleza. Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.
authors.forename: José Peixoto
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Caldas
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sónia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Obstetrícia e Ginecologia. Centro Hospitalar de São João. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade do Porto. Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Diogo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ayres-de-Campos
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005061:Europe, Eastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016387:Women's Health