Maternal Health Care Among Displaced Syrian Refugees: Challenges & Recommendations

Since March 2011, Syria has been in the turmoil of political crisis and instability that resulted in an exodus of Syrians refugees to neighboring countries. The recent number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon as reported by UNHCR 1,142,452 refugees as of Oct 09-2014, of whom 52.5% are female. In neighboring countries, there are more than 3 million Syrian refugees, including 77,000 pregnant wome. Between 10 and 13 births were taking place every day in Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, which hosts about 120 000 residents. In an assessment conducted by the UNICEF on October and November 2013, they found that for all Syrian refugees in Lebanon, 12% of women 15-49 years old were pregnant and 15.1% were lactating. Providing ANC and delivery care for pregnant women in refugee camps is challanging, various factors contribute to the poor outcome of pregnancy, like: Undernuorshiment and poor nutrition; lack of access to ANC; the dificulty providing the health care for hogh risk pregnancies; lack of access to safe and affordable delivery; poor living conditions increases the risk in pregnancies, leads to high mortality, and increase the risk of premature delivery; and lack of postnatal care and family planning.

Maternal health care in emergencies is not a luxury, but a necessit. Pregnant refugee women need more than shelter and food. Research shows that limited access antenatal care is a key determinant of pregnancy outcomes in refugee populations,and  there are often significant disparities in access to and use of antenatal care among refugee populations.  Prioritizing maternity care among Syrian refugees will safeguard the mother and her family wellbeing from pregnancy associated risks and lower the maternal mortality. Collaboration between the various stakeholders: WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, IAWG, MSF and NGOs should be maximized to establish, expand, and scale up the services to reach all women in refugees.