Health of Infants Born to Venezuelan Refugees in Colombia.

Little is known about the health of infants born Venezuelan refugee women in Colombia. Using birth certificate data, we compared birth weight, gestational age, and Apgar scores between births to Venezuelan refugee women and Colombian women in 2016-2018 using logistic regression. We also compared number of prenatal visits and health insurance coverage. Infants born to Venezuelan refugee women were more likely to be preterm (OR=1.14 [95%CI:1.07,1.23]), extremely preterm (OR=1.71 [95%CI:1.19,2.46]), low birth weight (OR=1.30 [95%CI:1.18,1.42]), and very low birth weight (OR =1.80 [95%CI:1.45,2.23]) than infants born to Colombian women. There were no differences in Apgar scores. Most Venezuelan refugee women had no health insurance, and number of prenatal visits was half that of Colombian women. Pregnant Venezuelan refugee women face health care barriers and have worse birth outcomes than Colombian women, highlighting the need to further address health care and other socioeconomic barriers for this vulnerable population.