Objective: To compare obstetric and perinatal outcomes of Syrian refugee pregnants and Turkish counterparts who gave birth at a tertiary center in İstanbul. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study including the birth records of 704 Syrian refugees and 744 Turkish pregnant women between January 2016 and May 2017 were analyzed. Demographic data, obstetric and neonatal outcomes were compared. The primary aims of this study were to evaluate the pregnancy outcomes and cesarean rates between the groups. The secondary outcomes were the use of antenatal vitamin supplementation, hemoglobinhematocrit values, and maternal complications. Results: Our results showed that the use of folic acid and iron supplementation rates during pregnancy were similar between the groups (folic acid supplementation 8.1% vs 6.5%, p=0.264; iron supplementation 20.7% vs 19.6%, p=0.125; respectively for Turkish women and Syrian refugees). Cesarean rates were significantly higher for Turkish patients than in Syrian refugees (42.7% vs 32.7%; p<0.05). Gestational age at delivery was significantly higher among Turkish women when compared with Syrian refugees (37.7}2.3 vs 36.4}2.3 weeks, p<0.05), but there was no significant difference regarding the birtweights’ of the newborns (3134 g vs 3066 g for Turkish women and Syrian refugees, respectively, p=0.105). Although obstetric complications were seen more often in Syrian refugees, it did not reach statistical difference (9.7% vs 8.1%, respectively, p=0.285). Conclusion: Syrian refugees use antenatal vitamin supplementations at similar rates to Turkish citizens and obstetric and perinatal outcomes are similar between the groups. © 2018 by Turkish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Cesarean delivery Perinatal outcome Obstetric outcome Maternal complication Syrian refugees

refugee demography Syrian Arab Republic pregnancy complication human risk assessment Cigarette Smoking Young Adult female tertiary care center Article pregnancy outcome major clinical study adult diet supplementation preeclampsia vitamin supplementation multiple pregnancy folic acid hematocrit hemoglobin iron hepatitis B surface antigen retrospective study gestational age cesarean section pregnancy diabetes mellitus