A systematic review and meta-analysis of the risk of stillbirth, perinatal and neonatal mortality in immigrant women

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the risk of stillbirth, perinatal and neonatal mortality in immigrant women compared to native-origin women in host countries. Methods: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was conducted. Relevant studies were identified using a thorough literature search and their quality was appraised. The analysis of heterogeneous data was carried out using the random effects model and publication bias was assessed using the Harbord-test. Also, the pooled odds ratio of events was calculated through the DerSimonian and Laird, and inverse variance methods. Results: In the search process 45 studies were retrieved consisting of 8,419,435 immigrant women and 40,113,869 native-origin women. The risk of stillbirth (Pooled OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.22–1.50), perinatal mortality (Pooled OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.35–1.68), and neonatal mortality (Pooled OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.00–1.19) in the immigrant women were significantly higher than the native-origin women in host countries. According to the sensitivity analyses, all results were highly consistent with the main data analysis results. Conclusion: The immigrant women compared to the native-origin women had the higher risks of stillbirth, perinatal and neonatal mortality. Healthcare providers and policy makers should improve the provision of maternal and neonatal healthcare for the immigrant population.