Immigrant women & postpartum depression

The immigrant population in Taiwan has increased significantly over the past decade, and immigrants now comprise a significant proportion of the women in Taiwan receiving maternal care. Postpartum stress and depression are important physical and mental health issues. This article used a systemic review of published articles to understand the general incidence of postpartum depression amongst immigrant women. Articles reviewed included those published in MEDLINE, PubMed, Proquest and CEPS in either English or Chinese. A systematic literature review of 20 identified original research papers was conducted to explore postpartum depression in immigrant women. One article addressed the experience of healthcare providers responsible to care for immigrant women suffering from postpartum depression. Other articles discussed factors of influence on postpartum depression in immigrant women or related experiences. Results show that immigrant women have a higher incidence of postpartum depression than the overall population. This incidence is even higher amongst immigrant women from minority groups. In addition to socioeconomic influence factors, social support and acculturation abilities were also found to be significant predictive factors of postpartum depression in immigrant women in Taiwan.