Navigating contrasting liminalities: Women’s experience of childbearing while undocumented in Sweden

Abstract Background Pregnant women living as undocumented migrants navigate multiple and layered liminalities, exacerbating their vulnerability, and accenting ambiguity and uncertainty in their lives. Whilst previous research has addressed these women's interactions with healthcare institutions, the present study's aim was to explore their experiences of daily life during pregnancy and early motherhood, when living undocumented in Sweden. Methods A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted, where 13 women from 10 countries were interviewed; all undocumented, with a forced migration background. The anthropological theory of liminality was applied in furthering interpretations. Results The central theme of navigating the contrasting liminalities of celebrating pregnancy and early motherhood while immersed in the acute uncertainties of undocumentedness emerged, including two categories: (1) Embodying systemic injustice, with the subcategories living in the shadows of society to maintain personal safety, fearing the inability to satisfy basic needs in motherhood, and experience of dissonance when suspended in existence; (2) coping strategies for tackling daily life, with the subcategories: the importance of social relationships in satisfying needs and rights, striving for normality in the present, and dreaming of belonging to the fabric of the host society. Conclusions Pregnancy and early motherhood both exacerbated and countered the burden of undocumentedness. Daily life constituted a paradox, where undocumentedness resulted in being consumed by harsh living circumstances; driving fears of common spaces and services and uncertainty and unpredictability in meeting basic needs. Simultaneously, the universal and inherently human experiences of joy and longing that pregnancy can foster still emerged in little moments allowing it. Dreams of belonging were, however, thwarted by exclusion, being continuously and forcibly confined to inhabiting the liminal space on society's threshold. Key messages Pregnancy and early motherhood both acutely exacerbate and counter the burden of undocumentedness, rendering navigating daily life heavily paradoxical. Undocumentedness results in being consumed by harsh living circumstances; simultaneously, the universal and inherently human experiences of joy and longing that pregnancy can foster still emerge.