Evidence mapPaperPMID 42277939Full record

ArticleArchives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique2026

Navigating perinatal mental health care: migrant women's experiences of support pathways and the role of digital resources.

Areni Altun, Andrea Reupert, Melissa Oxlad, Rochelle Hine, Levita D'Souza, Malavika Kadwadkar, Jacqueline A Boyle

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Areni AltunEastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, 5 Arnold Street, Box Hill, Melbourne, VIC, 3128, Australia. areni.altun@monash.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9981-1011
Andrea ReupertSchool of Educational Psychology & Counselling, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Melissa OxladSchool of Psychology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
Rochelle HineSchool of Rural Health, Monash University, Bendigo, Australia.
Levita D'SouzaSchool of Educational Psychology & Counselling, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Malavika KadwadkarEastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, 5 Arnold Street, Box Hill, Melbourne, VIC, 3128, Australia.
Jacqueline A BoyleEastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, 5 Arnold Street, Box Hill, Melbourne, VIC, 3128, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMigrant women experience disproportionately high rates of perinatal mental health difficulties, shaped by intersecting cultural, social, and systemic barriers. Despite the increasing role of digital technologies in healthcare delivery, their potential to support equitable perinatal mental health care remains underexplored and often fails to reflect the complex realities of migrant women's lives. This study examined how women from migrant backgrounds in Australia navigate perinatal mental health care across clinical, community, and digital settings, with a particular focus on how digital tools interact with cultural, social, and structural factors to influence help-seeking and engagement.

methodsQualitative data were collected through online focus groups and individual interviews with women from Chinese-, Arabic-, and Indian-language speaking backgrounds who had given birth in Australia. A semi-structured, culturally adapted interview guide explored women's experiences of mental health support, barriers and facilitators to access, cultural beliefs, and the role of digital tools in finding/interpreting information. Interviews were conducted with interpreter support and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns across women's narratives.

resultsThree overarching themes, each with related subthemes, were developed: (1) Accessing Perinatal Care captured fragmented systems and difficulties navigating services that felt culturally unresponsive; (2) Cultural and Socio-Emotional Context of Mental Health reflected how stigma, traditional beliefs, and disrupted family networks shaped women's emotional wellbeing, help-seeking, and comfort disclosing distress; and (3) Support Seeking illustrated how women turned to digital platforms for connection, and guidance but were constrained by language barriers, and varying levels of digital literacy and access.

conclusionsMigrant women navigate fragmented perinatal mental health pathways shaped by cultural, social, and structural barriers. Digital tools can support help-seeking, but only when designed to address cultural relevance, language needs, and digital inequities. Equity-focused, co-designed approaches are essential to ensure digital solutions genuinely enhance perinatal mental health care for migrant women.

Indexed as

Digital equityHealth equityMental healthMigrant womenPerinatal health

Identifiers

PMID42277939
PMCPMC13439841

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.