“In the end … I got pregnant. And that wasn't what the plans were”: Threats to reproductive health and rights for migrant women intending to seek safety in the U.S.

Abstract

Background

Reproductive health and rights for migrant women intending to seek safety in the U.S. are shaped by the risk environments through which they migrate, including policy, social, economic, and physical factors. We examined migrant women's lived experiences of reproductive health and rights resulting from and perpetuated by these risk environments across migration phases.

Methods

As part of a larger study examining maternal and reproductive health among U.S.-bound pregnant and parenting migrant women seeking safety at the Mexico-U.S. border, we analyzed qualitative, semi-structured interviews of the lived experiences of threats to reproductive health and rights in relation to policies and practices experienced across phases of migration by migrant women intending to seek safety in the U.S.

Results

Among 38 migrant women, threats to reproductive health and rights were pervasive and strongly shaped by the risk environments and unsafe humanitarian conditions experienced during migration and at the Mexico-U.S. border. These included: i) experiences of pervasive sexual violence and exploitation; (ii) unplanned pregnancy, disruptions to family planning, and threats to perinatal health; and (iii) experiences of violence pre- and during migration, and border experiences that increased threats to the health and safety of women and their families.

Conclusion

Migrant women seeking safety in the U.S. face significant threats to reproductive health and rights during migration, perpetuated by the risk environments experienced in transit and at the Mexico-U.S. border. There is a need to shift existing migration policies towards sustainable immigration reforms that allow for safe, orderly, and timely migration.