Substantial Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure on Prenatal Check-Ups: Estimates from a Sample of Pregnant Women in Cartagena, Colombia.

Objective: We aimed to estimate out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditures and the indirect costs related to prenatal check-ups in pregnant women seen in a maternity hospital in the Colombian Caribbean region.

Methods: We described the economic costs of pregnant women, with no age limits, who attended prenatal check-ups in a maternity hospital. To estimate OOP and indirect costs owing to prenatal check-ups in pregnant women, a survey was constructed, where the woman was asked about some sociodemographic variables, to characterize those attending the prenatal check-ups.

Iron status in late pregnancy is inversely associated with birth weight in Colombia.

Objective: Gestational anaemia (GA) is common in developing countries. This study assessed the relationship of late GA and negative perinatal outcomes in participants recruited in a reference maternity unit of the Caribbean region of Colombia.

Design: Prospective analytical birth cohort study.

Terminal Complement Activation in Preeclampsia.

Objective: To evaluate whether C5b-9 concentrations in blood and urine are increased in preeclampsia with severe features.

Methods: The Complement and Preeclampsia in the Americas study is a prospective, multicenter case-control study performed at six centers in Colombia from November 2015 to July 2016. The case group included women with preeclampsia with severe features, and the control group included women who were healthy or had chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, or preeclampsia without severe features.