Motherhood and migration. A qualitative study of young immigrant mothers in Italy

Pregnancy and motherhood are events that present particular complexity for migrant women. A qualitative study was conducted on young migrant women in Italy regarding psychological well-being during pregnancy and the perinatal period. Eighteen focus groups were organized with mothers from Morocco, Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia. Analysis of the verbalizations revealed 4 main areas of need: the need for family support; coping with acculturation stress; anxiety about their own and their newborns’ health; and the search for life strategies for good child health. The results indicate the need to reduce the negative effect produced by social isolation and lack of family support, particularly through socializing activities with women of the same ethnic group, also aimed at reconciling traditional caregiving and Italian practices. Special attention should also be paid to depressive symptomatology, frequently already present in mothers before childbirth, as an expression of a failure to adapt to the new cultural context.