Latina Women's Perinatal Experiences and Perspectives Around Discrimination, Anti-immigrant Policies, and Community Violence.

IMMIGRATION law; UNITED States emigration & immigration; FEAR; HEALTH services accessibility; QUALITATIVE research; SECONDARY analysis; SOCIAL justice; MATERNITY nursing; HISPANIC Americans; INTERVIEWING; SOCIOECONOMIC disparities in health; VIOLENCE in the community; PREGNANT women; THEMATIC analysis; PRENATAL care; PSYCHOLOGY of mothers; RESEARCH methodology; CONCEPTUAL structures; CRITICAL race theory; DISCRIMINATION (Sociology); MEDICAID; COVID-19 pandemic; PERINATAL period; SOCIAL isolation; WELL-being; PREGNANCY

CALIFORNIA; UNITED States

To describe experiences of Latina women who were currently pregnant or recently gave birth around discrimination, anti-immigrant policies, and community violence during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative secondary analysis. Online or phone interviews. Latina women who were currently pregnant or recently gave birth (N = 26). We used reflexive thematic analysis to examine transcribed data from semistructured interviews conducted during the early COVID-19 pandemic with a subgroup of participants enrolled in a larger study related to prenatal care. Participants were English- or Spanish-speaking, Medicaid-eligible, Latina-identifying women who resided in Fresno County, California. We analyzed responses to questions about personal discrimination, the Black Lives Matter movement, and immigration policies using the theoretical frameworks of critical race theory and the political economy of health. We identified four major themes: Avoidance of Community Engagement , Chronic Fear and Vigilance , The Role of Media , and Everyday Discrimination and Injustice. Participant experiences reflect the pervasiveness of fear and socioeconomic inequity and call attention to the racialized structures that affect health and health care access for Latina women. These exposures during the perinatal period may have intergenerational effects. These findings underscore the need for responsive and race-conscious perinatal nursing care for Latina women, assessment of the effect of the current sociopolitical environment on well-being, and policies that support equitable access to health and social care. Responsive and race-conscious perinatal health care and policy must account for the effect of the current sociopolitical environment on the well-being of Latina women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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