Perinatal and Neonatal Outcomes of Refugee Infants in a Tertiary Hospital in Turkey

Background Worldwide, the immigration problem has been increasing due to conflicts. In recent years, Turkey accepted more than 3.8 million refugees from many countries, principally Syria. Aims In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prenatal features and neonatal outcomes of refugees and Turkish controls hospitalized in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit in Turkey. Materials and methods This retrospective case-control study included comparative data related to populations based on whether they were refugees or not. Their perinatal and neonatal "outcomes" were compared. Results Among the 254 analyzed neonates, 127 were born to refugee mothers, and 127 controls were born to non-refugee Turkish mothers. The refugee rate in our hospitalized neonates was nine, a young mother’s age (p=0.010) with a higher rate of adolescent pregnancies at OR 2.78 (95% CI 0.96-8.05) (p=0.032), and consanguineous marriage at OR 0.57 (95% CI 0.32-1.02) (p=0.031) in comparison to non-refugees. The incidence of ABO incompatibility-related hemolytic jaundice (p=0.013) was higher in the refugees. The rate of formula feeding in the first month of life was significantly higher at OR 0.49 (95% CI 0.25-0.92) (p=0.027) in neonates born to refugee mothers. Despite lower perinatal care rates in refugees at OR 7.23 (95%CI 4.12-12.69) (<0.001), preterm morbidities did not differ between refugees and non-refugee preterm infants ≤32 gestational age (p>0.05). Conclusion The importance of breast milk must be strongly encouraged to initiate and promote exclusive breastfeeding for the infants of refugees. Race is still an important risk factor for ABO incompatibility-related hemolytic jaundice. Providing high-quality healthcare is sufficient to prevent worse outcomes in refugee neonates.