1. Maternal Care and Pregnancy Outcomes of Venezuelan and Colombian Refugees.
- Author
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Weigel, M. Margaret and Armijos, Rodrigo X.
- Subjects
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MATERNAL health services , *IMMIGRANTS , *HEALTH services accessibility , *PREMATURE infants , *CONFIDENCE intervals , *ANALYSIS of variance , *PREGNANCY outcomes , *LOW birth weight , *REFUGEES , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *CHI-squared test , *CESAREAN section , *PRENATAL care , *INSTITUTIONAL care , *LOGISTIC regression analysis , *ODDS ratio , *APGAR score - Abstract
Background: Ecuador is a major host country for Colombians fleeing violence and Venezuelans escaping a complex humanitarian crisis, many of whom are pregnant women. Methods: We used national birth registry data (2018โ2020) to compare the maternal care and infant outcomes of Venezuelan and Colombian immigrants with Ecuadorian nationals. Results: Venezuelan immigrants had a lower adjusted odds (AOR) for adequate prenatal care (AOR = 0.64;95%CI = 0.62,0.67) but a higher AOR for institutional (AOR = 2.68;95%CI = 1.84,3.93) and C-section delivery (AOR = 1.28;95%CI = 1.23,1.32) and birthing infants who were moderate-late preterm (AOR = 1.12;95%CI = 1.05,1.20), very preterm (AOR = 1.20;95%CI = 1.04,1.40), extremely pre-term (AOR = 1.65;95%CI = 1.27,2.14), low birthweight (LBW) (AOR = 1.11;95%CI = 1.05,1.17), very LBW (AOR = 1.35;95%CI = 1.12,1.62), and extremely LBW (AOR = 1.71;95%CI = 1.36,2.16). Colombians had decreased AORs for adequate prenatal care (AOR = 0.82;95%CI = 0.78,0.87) but increased AORs for institutional (AOR = 2.03;95%CI = 1.19,3.46) and C-section deliveries (AOR = 1.07;95%CI = 1.01,1.13) and birthing infants with moderate-late preterm (AOR = 1.17;95%CI = 1.05,1.30) but not LBW. Discussion: The findings underscore the need to address the causes of adequate prenatal care, excess C-sections, and poorer infant outcomes among refugee and immigrant women, especially Venezuelans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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