TY - GEN A1 - Ludwig, Angelique A1 - Miani, Céline A1 - Breckenkamp, Jürgen A1 - Sauzet, Odile A1 - Borde, Theda A1 - Doyle, Ina-Merle A1 - Brenne, Silke A1 - Höller-Holtrichter, Chantal A1 - David, Matthias A1 - Spallek, Jacob A1 - Razum, Oliver T1 - Are Social Status and Migration Background Associated with Utilization of Non-medical Antenatal Care? Analyses from Two German Studies T2 - Maternal and Child Health Journal N2 - Objective: Non-medical antenatal care (ANC) refers to a range of non-medical services available to women during pregnancy aiming at supporting women and prepare them for the birth and the postpartum period. In Germany, they include antenatal classes, breastfeeding classes and pregnancy-specific yoga or gymnastics courses. Studies suggest that various types of non-medical ANC carry benefits for both the women and their babies. Little is known about the uptake of non-medical ANC among different socioeconomic population subgroups, but one may expect lower utilization among socio-economically disadvantaged women. We analyzed factors contributing to the utilization of non-medical ANC in general and antenatal classes in particular. Methods: Baseline data of the Bielefeld BaBi birth cohort (2013–2016) and the Berlin perinatal study (2011–2012) were analyzed. Comparing the two cohorts allowed to increase the socio-economic and migration background variance of the study population and to capture the effect of the local context on uptake of services. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to study associations between the uptake of non-medical ANC and socio-economic and migration status.ResultsIn Berlin and Bielefeld, being a first generation migrant and having lower levels of education were associated with lower non-medical ANC uptake. In Berlin, being a 2nd generation woman or having a low income was also associated with lower uptake. Conclusions for Practice: Our study suggests that non-medical ANC remains in some part the prerogative of non-migrant, well-educated and economically privileged women. Since differences in non-medical ANC have the potential to create inequalities in terms of birth outcomes and maternal health during pregnancy and post-partum, more efforts are needed to promote the use of non-medical ANC by all population groups. KW - Non-medical antenatal care KW - Migration background KW - Education KW - Socioeconomic status KW - Pregnancy Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-020-02937-z SN - 1573-6628 SN - 1092-7875 VL - 24 IS - 7 SP - 943 EP - 952 ER -