In Ontario's poorest neighbourhoods, newborns of non-refugee immigrant mothers face a lower risk of serious illness and death than those born to Canadian-born parents, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday.
Jennifer Tano holds her son Thomas in the neonatal intensive care unit of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013. Thomas was born premature at 27 weeks gestation. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Galit Rodan
"Efforts should be aimed at improving the overall health and well-being of all females residing in low-income areas, and at determining if the risk of adverse birth outcomes can be equitably reduced among immigrant and non-immigrant groups," wrote co-author Jennifer Jairam. They measured severe neonatal illness or disease by looking at breathing support, intravenous fluid use, birth before 32 weeks' gestation, very low birth weight and respiratory distress.
However, they said that risk varied depending on the country of origin, with a higher risk of severe neonatal illness and death in newborns of immigrants from Jamaica and Ghana, and in those who had lived for a greater length of time in Ontario.Rather than suggesting immigrant mothers and their newborns receive better care in Ontario than Canadian-born mothers and babies, the authors believe their findings might be explained by the "healthy immigrant" effect.
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