Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2023
Migrant-Native Disparities in Obstetric Neuraxial Analgesia Use: The Role of Host-Country Language Proficiency.
Neuraxial analgesia (NA) is the most effective modality in managing labor pain with widespread availability in high-income countries. Previous research has reported a differential obstetric NA use among migrant and native women, but the contribution of language barriers is not well understood. We aimed to investigate whether host-country language proficiency among migrant women influences NA use and satisfaction with pain management during labor, when compared to natives. ⋯ Compared to native women, we observed a differential obstetric NA use across migrant women with different host-country language proficiency levels in Portugal, without affecting satisfaction with labor pain management. Although defining the mechanisms underlying NA use discrepancies requires further research, our findings support systematically evaluating pregnant migrant women's linguistic skills and ensuring their access to adequate obstetric analgesia-related information and interpretation services.