Access to community-based reproductive health services and incidence of low birthweight delivery among refugee and displaced mothers: a retrospective study in the Thailand-Myanmar border region
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Objectives: Over 2.4 million people have been displaced within the Thailand-Myanmar border region since 1988. The efficacy of community-driven health models within displaced populations is largely unstudied. Here, we examined the relationship between maternal healthcare access and delivery outcomes to evaluate the impact of community-provided health services for marginalised populations. Setting: Study setting was the Thailand-Myanmar border region’s single largest provider of reproductive health services to displaced mothers. Participants: All women who had a delivery (n=34 240) between 2008 and 2019 at the study clinic were included in the performed retrospective analyses. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Low birth weight was measured as the study outcome to understand the relationship between antenatal care access, family planning service utilisation, demographics and healthy deliveries. Results: First trimester (OR=0.86; 95% CI=0.81 to 0.91) and second trimester (OR=0.86; 95% CI=0.83 to 0.90) antenatal care visits emerged as independent protective factors against low birthweight delivery, as did prior utilisation of family planning services (OR=0.82; 95% CI=0.73 to 0.92). Additionally, advanced maternal age (OR=1.36; 95% CI=1.21 to 1.52) and teenage pregnancy (OR=1.27, 95% CI=1.13 to 1.42) were notable risk factors, while maternal gravidity (OR=0.914; 95% CI=0.89 to 0.94) displayed a protective effect against low birth weight. Conclusion: Access to community-delivered maternal health services is strongly associated with positive delivery outcomes among displaced mothers. This study calls for further inquiry into how to best engage migrant and refugee populations in their own reproductive healthcare, in order to develop resilient models of care for a growing displaced population globally.
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Low birth weight ranged from 5%-13% (2003-2017).
“Low birth weight ranged from 5%–13% (2003–2017)”
From Mother, child and adolescent health outcomes in two long-term refugee camp settings at the Thai-Myanmar border 2000–2018: a retrospective analysis (2024) · cites this paper as Perera et al., 2022
The Results report a low-birthweight prevalence of 15.8% in 2008, which exceeds the claimed 13% maximum for 2003–2017. They also report a low of 9.4% in 2018, not a 5% minimum for the claimed period. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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- Authors
- Perera, S., Maung, C., Hla, S., Moo Moo, H., Than Lwin, S., Bruck, C., Smith, T., Bakker, M., Akhoon, C., & Sarkar, I. N.
- Affiliations
- Brown University (US)
- Mae Sot Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand
- Corresponding author
- Sarkar, Indra Neil
- Venue
- BMJ Open
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2022-01
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e052571
- ISSN
- 2044-6055 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8804650
- OpenAlex
- W4210596887
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 0.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMJ Open (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Brown Data Science Initiative (NA)
- Brown University (NA)
- Biomedical Informatics Global Health Fund (NA)
- National Institutes of Health (R25MH11440, U54GM11577)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
- Keywords
- low birth weight, refugee mothers, displaced persons, prenatal care, maternal outcomes, migrant health, adolescent pregnancy, advanced maternal age, gravidity
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Birth Weight, Myanmar, Community Health Services, Female, Humans, Infant, Low Birth Weight, Infant, Newborn, Maternal Health Services, Mothers, Pregnancy, Refugees, Retrospective Studies, Thailand, Incidence
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