Postnatal experiences of South Asian immigrant women in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America: a qualitative systematic review protocol

Objective: The goal of this review is to gain an understanding of the postnatal experiences of South Asian immigrant women in 4 English-speaking countries: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Introduction: The postnatal period is an important time in the lives of women and their families. Major changes take place during this time as a woman’s body gradually returns to its pre-pregnancy state. The postnatal period is also a time for women to adapt and transition into their new role as a mother. Immigrant women experience many challenges in accessing quality postnatal care in comparison to non-migrant populations. South Asian immigrant women, specifically, encounter unique postnatal experiences and face a myriad of hardships in accessing proper postnatal care. The presence of cultural factors and traditional norms largely influence postnatal experiences of South Asian immigrant women. Cultural factors include, but are not limited to, relationships with family and in-laws, gender-specific roles, newborn gender, mental health stigma, language barriers, acculturative stress, and expression of depression. Inclusion criteria: Qualitative studies in English reporting postnatal experiences of South Asian immigrant women published after January 2000 will be considered for this review. Research designs may include, but are not limited to, feminist research, exploratory descriptive design, or ethnography. Gray literature will be limited to theses and dissertations only. Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, EthOS, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses will be searched. Disagreement resolution, data extraction, and meta-aggregation will be completed through discussion between 2 reviewers. Studies will be critically appraised and assigned a level of credibility. Systematic review registration number: PROSPERO CRD42022354306