Contraception in the Era of COVID-19

Nanda, Kavita; Lebetkin, Elena; Steiner, Markus J.; Yacobson, Irina; Dorflinger, Laneta J.

doi:10.9745/ghsp-d-20-00119

Cited by 78 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The World Health Organisation has issued recommendations for social distancing to limit COVID-19 transmission and support sexual and reproductive health [10]. According to the recommendations, we avoided direct personal contact with the study participants, restricting ourselves mainly to telephone counselling of women requesting contraception and abortion services [11,12].…”

Section: Differences In Results and Conclusion In Relation To Other Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual activity and contraceptive use during social distancing and self-isolation in the COVID-19 pandemic

Caruso

Rapisarda

Minona

2020

The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health

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Objectives: The aims of the study were to investigate the effects of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of hormonal contraceptives, their discontinuation and the risk of unplanned pregnancy. Methods: The study enrolled 317 women listed in the database of the Department of General Surgery and Medical-Surgical Specialties, University of Catania, Italy, family planning clinic who were known to be using hormonal contraceptives. The women were contacted by telephone and asked whether they would like to participate in the study. If they agreed, they were then emailed a questionnaire about their social behaviour and sexual activity during the pandemic, according to their cohabiting status, i.e., whether they were continuing to use their hormonal contraception and whether they had had an unplanned pregnancy. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 175 (81.8%) women who were using short-acting reversible contraception (SARC) and by 90 (87.4%) women who were using long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). All married and cohabiting women were continuing to use their contraceptive method. None had had an unplanned pregnancy. On the other hand, 51 (50.5%) non-cohabiting or single women had discontinued their SARC method while social distancing, for nonmethod-related reasons; however, 47 (46.5%) non-cohabiting or single women had continued their sexual activity, infringing social distancing rules, and 14.9% had had an unplanned pregnancy, for which they had sought a termination. Conclusion: Several non-cohabiting women using SARC had discontinued their contraceptive method during the pandemic but had continued to engage in sexual activity and had had an unplanned pregnancy. Clinicians should counsel women about what they should do in regard to contraception in the event of new, future social distancing measures.

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Section: Differences In Results and Conclusion In Relation To Other Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual activity and contraceptive use during social distancing and self-isolation in the COVID-19 pandemic

Caruso

Rapisarda

Minona

2020

The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health

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“…The unfortunate byproduct of this shift is the de-prioritization of other essential health care services such as access to contraception. The consequence of limited access to contraception is evidenced by historic and current data [18][19][20][21]. Research conducted by the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) projects that more than 47 million women could lose access to contraception leading to 7 million unintended pregnancies as a result of the COVID-19 crisis [22].…”

Section: Globalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is nearly equal to the number of deaths caused by the Ebola virus itself [21]. Disruption in contraception access also results in an increase in unsafe abortions, miscarriage, pregnancy complications, transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as increased incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicide, and intimate partner violence [18,21,22]. These consequences disproportionally affect developing countries and marginalized groups in the United States, further increasing national and international healthcare disparities.…”

Section: Globalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contraception access during the COVID-19 pandemic

Aly

Haeger

Christy

et al. 2020

Contracept Reprod Med

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, over 7 million confirmed cases and over 400,000 deaths had been recorded across 213 countries and territories [3]. In outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics, epidemiologists aim to quantify the spread of a disease within a population across space and time. In addition, epidemiologists aim to quantify the rate of disease transmission. This information is then used to inform prevention and mitigation strategies. Although aggressive prevention strategies may be disruptive and costly, such measures may ultimately reduce the burden of morbidity and mortality within a population, as has been demonstrated in previous pandemics, such as the 1918-1920 influenza and the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemics [4, 5]. The first tier of response is containment to prevent the spread of disease before it has a chance to take hold in the community [6]. This may include contact tracing, surveillance in the community through widespread testing, and quarantine measures. However, once a disease has spread through the community, the second tier, mitigation strategies, are necessary to reduce transmission. Interventions include social distancing measures; closure of schools, workplaces, and community facilities; travel restrictions; and individual-level hygiene measures, such as wearing a mask and washing hands [6]. Without mitigation efforts in place, healthcare systems risk being stretched beyond capacity in, for example, intensive care unit (ICU) beds, personal protective equipment (PPE), and ventilators for treating patients with COVID-19. This is why countries who were in the mitigation phase of the pandemic conducted communication campaigns imploring individuals to engage in behaviors to "flatten the curve." Beyond the mitigation tier, state-level actors may put lockdowns in place to further curb transmission. Scope of the problem Asia Countries across Asia were some of the first to experience the outbreak of COVID-19. Many had already had previous experiences dealing with epidemics, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) from 2002 to 2003, H1N1 flu in 2009, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2014, 2015 and 2018 [7]. Such experiences had prepared governments to respond and made their populations more receptive to restrictive public health measures. Some entities, including South Korea, Mongolia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, initially succeeded in containing the virus through aggressive preemptive measures: transparency in communication, ubiquitous testing, strict quarantine, and thorough disinfectant protocols [7, 8]. South Korea used such measures without ever putting a lockdown in place. After failures in communication during the MERS epidemic in 2015, new standard operating procedures were put in place. By the time COVID-19 arrived, Koreans were willing to

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“…It is precisely here where postpartum family planning (PPFP) and PAFP offer a unique opportunity to make the most of facility and pharmacy visits and interactions with community health workers that individuals continue to have during the COVID-19 crisis. Now more than ever, and as others have already pointed out, 19 the care that pregnant, postpartum, and postabortion women receive could be optimized to also meet their family planning needs by integrating contraceptive counseling and services for those who wish to space or limit their next pregnancy and to yield the significant health and well-being aims of voluntary contraceptive uptake and healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies.…”

Section: Why Focus On Family Planning Within Services For Pregnant Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities and Challenges of Delivering Postabortion Care and Postpartum Family Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Pfitzer¹,

Lathrop²,

Bodenheimer

et al. 2020

Glob Health Sci Pract

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We seek to assist decision makers in maximizing provision of essential services without compromising access to quality family planning care and while minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission among clients, and between clients and health care workers. n Managers should help facility teams to integrate counseling and provide a range of contraceptive methods as is feasible within existing contacts with pregnant, postabortion, birthing, and postpartum women, even as services migrate to new models with a mixture of in-person and virtual/tele-health consultations. n Policy makers should prioritize devoting resources to meet the family planning needs of pregnant, postabortion, birthing, and postpartum women, and the health care workers serving them as an investment against higher health systems burdens in later months and during subsequent waves of the pandemic.

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Contraception in the Era of COVID-19

Cited by 78 publications

References 5 publications

Sexual activity and contraceptive use during social distancing and self-isolation in the COVID-19 pandemic

Sexual activity and contraceptive use during social distancing and self-isolation in the COVID-19 pandemic

Contraception access during the COVID-19 pandemic

Opportunities and Challenges of Delivering Postabortion Care and Postpartum Family Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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