Do black women's lives matter? A study of the hidden impact of the barriers to access maternal healthcare for migrant women in South Africa.

Background: Studies on the barriers migrant women face when trying to access healthcare services in South Africa have emphasized economic factors, fear of deportation, lack of documentation, language barriers, xenophobia, and discrimination in society and in healthcare institutions as factors explaining migrants' reluctance to seek healthcare. Our study aims to visualize some of the outcome effects of these barriers by analyzing data on maternal death and comparing the local population and black African migrant women from the South African Development Countries (SADC) living in South Africa. The heightened maternal mortality of black migrant women in South Africa can be associated with the hidden costs of barriers migrants face, including xenophobic attitudes experienced at public healthcare institutions.