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Antenatal Care Utilization and Obstetric and Newborn Outcomes Among Pregnant Refugees Attending a Specialized Refugee Clinic

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Abstract

The objective of the study is to characterize the antenatal care utilization and obstetric and newborn outcomes among refugee women at a specialized refugee clinic and determine whether these outcomes varied between refugees (government-assisted or privately-sponsored) and asylum seekers. This retrospective cohort study included women receiving antenatal care at a specialized refugee clinic between 2011 and 2016. Time from arrival to first clinic visit, Adequacy of Prenatal Care Utilization Index, and obstetric and newborn outcomes were examined, stratified by refugee category. Amongst 179 women, median time from arrival to first clinic visit was longer for asylum seekers (2.8 months, IQR 12.9) compared to government-assisted and privately-sponsored refugees (0.4 months, IQR 0.7, and 1.6 months, IQR 3.2, respectively; p < 0.01). A larger proportion of asylum seeking women received inadequate antenatal care. No difference was found in obstetric and newborn outcomes. Differences in antenatal care utilization between refugee categories suggest that barriers may remain for asylum seekers; however, obstetric and newborn outcomes were comparable amongst refugee categories.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the healthcare providers, staff and patients at the Mosaic Refugee Health Clinic, the O’Brien Institute for Public Health and the W21C Research and Innovation Centre at the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine. We would also like to acknowledge the financial support provided through a pre-submission grant from the Calgary Centre for Clinical Research at the University of Calgary. Without the support provided by each of these institutions, this study would not have been possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Mary Malebranche, Kara A. Nerenberg & Gabriel Fabreau

  2. Mosaic Refugee Health Clinic, Calgary, Canada

    Eric Norrie, Rachel Talavlikar, Andrea Hull & Giselle De Vetten

  3. University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Sylvia Hao

  4. W21C Research and Innovation Centre, Calgary, Canada

    Garielle Brown

  5. Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Kara A. Nerenberg, Amy Metcalfe & Gabriel Fabreau

  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Kara A. Nerenberg & Amy Metcalfe

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  1. Mary Malebranche
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Correspondence to Mary Malebranche.

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Malebranche, M., Norrie, E., Hao, S. et al. Antenatal Care Utilization and Obstetric and Newborn Outcomes Among Pregnant Refugees Attending a Specialized Refugee Clinic. J Immigrant Minority Health 22, 467–475 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-019-00961-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-019-00961-y

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