[Pregnancy and birth in multicultural Norway]

Immigrants represent a new and increasing element in Norwegian health care. As the majority of immigrants are young adults, their first contact with the health care system is frequently in connection with pregnancy and birth. From a health perspective migration may be associated with increased risk. Socio-cultural habits may conflict with biomedical perceptions about what serves mother and child best and create barriers to necessary treatment and follow up. At the same time the woman herself may experience lack of knowledge of and accept for her central cultural values. Some immigrant groups have 2-3 times higher perinatal mortality than ethnic Norwegians. Third-world immigrants seem to be more exposed to unnecessary medical interventions, though they have unmet needs for adequate health care. In order to secure equality and quality in health care, health professionals should receive knowledge-based support based on biomedical and socio-cultural research in relation to multicultural issues.