It is well established that restrictive policies on immigration increase the risk of perinatal mortality and morbidity among migrant women. Undocumented pregnant women and their newborn babies are particularly at high risk of complications, due to multiple and interacting factors such as: (i) limited access to health care, (ii) social isolation, (iii) financial burdens, and (iv) trans-generational effects.
In Japan, in response to the increase in foreign residents since the 1990s, laws and regulations on social protection are being readjusted. Accordingly, the ‘New Residency Management’ system will be introduced in July 2012 to better accommodate the needs of ‘legal’ foreign migrants. At the same time, undocumented migrants will face tougher restrictions. All the undocumented migrants will be denied registration in the new system unless they come forward to the Immigration Bureau. As a result, they could also be denied welfare services provided up to now by municipalities.
In this article, we discuss the potential impact of the forthcoming New Residency Management system on the health of undocumented pregnant migrants and their children.
More research is needed on this issue in the Japanese context, but we should not fail to guarantee minimal public assistance for undocumented migrant women, particularly at the time of childbirth.