Moving to slums puts unborn children at risk of death

Children born to mothers who move to informal settlements while pregnant are likely to die before they reach four years, researchers say.

On the contrary, children born before their mothers’ migration and those whose mothers were living in the shanty setting before their births have higher chances of survival.

A combination of the migration of the mother while pregnant and the delivery in the slums, according to the researchers contribute to the death of children whose mothers move to informal settlements while pregnant.

In the study published in Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, the team of six researchers studied the effects of mother’s duration of residence and a child’s place of birth on childhood mortality.

In particular, the researchers from the Nairobi-based African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) assessed the impact of a mother’s duration of residence on the survival chances of children less than five years who had been residents of Korogocho and Viwandani slums for more than four months between 2003 and 2007.

Four groups

The researchers, Philippe Bocquier, Donatien Beguy, Eliya Zulu, Kanyiva Muindi, Adama Konseiga and YazoumÈ YÈ observed each child starting at birth or at the age reached four months after migration in the slums. The surveillance ended either on their fourth birthday, at the occurrence of death, because of refusal, loss to follow-up or emigration.

The researchers categorised the children and their mothers into four groups: First, children born before their mothers migrated into the slums.

Second, children who were born within the first eight-months of their mother’s migration — these children were most likely conceived before their mothers migrated to the slums.

Thirdly, children born within nine to 19 months following their mother’s migration, and lastly children born 20 months or more after their mother’s migration into the slums formed the last category.

"Children born in slum settlements shortly after their mothers migrated have 1.8 times higher risk of dying than other children," say the researchers.

Health hazard

They observe that since their mothers migrated when pregnant, the pregnancy might have precipitated the migration.

Thus, "the migration presents stress for the migrant mother, with possible long-term consequences on her child’s survival," note the researchers.

For the migrant mother’s infant, the scientists say, living their first weeks in the slums is a serious health hazard.

"New migrant mothers may not yet be integrated into the new environment and may not know how and where to seek health care services for their children," the team says.