Speaking at SMFM 2026, Rose Molina, MD, MPH, FACOG, urged ob-gyns to adopt immigration-informed care to protect access, safety, and trust for immigrant patients.
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“I think that our committee on advancing safe and equitable obstetric and gynecologic care really wanted to bring this particular population into the center, given everything that's happening in our country,” Molina said. The goal, she explained, was to “reaffirm the ways that ob-gyns specifically can take an active role in supporting and advocating for this particular population, given some of the current changes in federal policy that really impact their health and well being.”
As outlined in the Committee Statement published February 3, 2026, ACOG frames immigration status as a structural determinant of health and urges clinicians to protect patient access, safety, and trust.
Molina expanded on a key concept introduced in the document: immigration-informed care.
“Immigration-informed care is cultivating an awareness of and responsiveness to immigration-related health risks and concerns,” she said. “Simply put, it means really seeing patients holistically within their life context.”
That includes recognizing how a patient’s migration journey—“whether their journey was voluntary or forced”—can shape physical and mental health outcomes, access to care, and a sense of safety in clinical spaces. Molina emphasized that immigration-related stressors such as trauma, family separation, language barriers, fear of deportation, and limited insurance options “really have an important impact on the patients that we see in our clinics,” she said. “Immigration-informed care avoids assumptions about immigration status and prioritizes patient autonomy, respects cultural and linguistic needs, and also builds trust by creating safe and inclusive clinical environments.”
Molina outlined tangible steps clinicians can take. “From the moment a patient enters a clinical space, they make a conscious or unconscious assessment of how comfortable they feel in that space,” she said. Visible Safe Space messaging, multilingual signage, and clear information about confidentiality can help establish trust. Even artwork and representation in clinical spaces, she noted, influence whether patients feel “welcome or seen.”
Ensuring “high quality, timely professional medical interpreters at all points of care” is critical. Molina stressed that language access must extend beyond the face-to-face encounter to scheduling, lab results, and wayfinding. Clinicians should also use trauma-informed communication, explain each step of the visit, ask permission before exams, clarify what documentation is not required, and avoid collecting unnecessary information about immigration status.
Training front desk, administrative, and clinical staff in cultural humility, supporting mixed-status families, and building relationships with community-based organizations are additional strategies.
“Above all,” Molina said, “simply to take an interest in their patients’ personal lives and struggles…will really help build trust.”
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