Give birth in rural hometowns or urban areas? Place of delivery among rural migrant working mothers in the Pearl river delta, China

Background: In China, the participation of rural mothers in urban labor markets is on the rise, but there’s limited knowledge about the place of delivery among them. Why do certain rural migrant working mothers choose to return to their rural hometowns for childbirth, while others opt to deliver in urban areas? Methods: This study analyzed the data of 1852 rural migrant working mothers collected from the China Migrant Dynamic Survey in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). These mothers, each with at least one child under the age of 18, had left the location of their agricultural hukou for employment or business in the PRD. Results: The results indicated that 63.7% of the surveyed mothers returned to rural hometowns for childbirth, with the remaining 36.3% choosing to give birth in urban areas. Factors that positively influenced their decision to deliver in urban areas included self-employment, postsecondary education, higher household income, longer migration duration and exposure to received health education regarding reproduction, contraception/eugenics, and nutrition. On the other hand, inter-provincial migration and earlier birth year negatively influenced rural migrant working mothers’ giving birth in urban areas. Conclusion: This study offers insights into childbirth strategies adopted by rural migrant working mothers that can shape future policy studies addressing internal rural-to-urban migration, women, maternal health and childcare services.