There is also increasing recognition that a full understanding of the health effects of migration requires an assessment of the ways in which migration impacts the health of sending communities. A study of infant health in two high migration sending states in Mexico found that infants born to fathers who had migrated to the U.S. had a lower risk of low birth weight and prematurity compared to infants born to fathers who had never migrated.121 This study also sheds light on the mechanisms. It found that women with partners in the U.S. had lower levels of social support and higher levels of stress during pregnancy than women with nonimmigrant partners but the positive effects of the receipt of remittances and the avoidance of adverse behavioral practices led to better infant health outcomes. The effects of migration were complex. Although women with international partners had a healthier behavioral profile in general (lower rate of smoking, higher level of exercise and a lower level of insufficient weight gain), they were nonetheless less likely to plan on exclusively breast feeding. Greater attention to the bi-directional effects of migration processes is clearly warranted in future research.
