AUTHOR=Al-Shatanawi Tariq N. , Khader Yousef , Abdel Razeq Nadin , Khader Ahmed M. , Alfaqih Mahmoud , Alkouri Osama , Alyahya Mohammad 

TITLE=Disparities in Obstetric, Neonatal, and Birth Outcomes Among Syrian Women Refugees and Jordanian Women

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 68 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2023.1605645

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2023.1605645

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Objectives: To identify disparities and compare birth outcomes between Syrian refugees and native women, and to explore the factors determining adverse neonatal birth outcomes among Syrian women in Jordan. Methods: We used the Jordan Stillbirths and Neonatal Deaths Surveillance System to extract sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics of the mothers and birth characteristics of newborns. Multivariate analysis was used to compare the characteristics of 26,139 Jordanian women (27,468 births) and 3,453 Syrian women refugees (3,638 births) who gave birth in five referral hospitals (May 2019 and December 2020). Results: The proportions of low birthweight (14.1% vs. 11.8%, p <0.001) and small for gestational age (12.0% vs. 10.0%, p<0.001) newborns were significantly higher for those born to Syrian women compared to those born to Jordanian women. The stillbirth rate (15.1 vs. 9.9 per 1,000 births, p = 0.003), the neonatal death rate (21.2 vs. 13.2 per 1000 live births, p <0.001), and perinatal death rate (21.2 vs. 13.2 per 1,000 births, p <0.001) were significantly higher for the Syrian births. Conclusion: Syrian refugee mothers had higher adverse pregnancy outcome rates than Jordanians.