COVID-19 and family planning service delivery: Findings from a survey of U.S. physicians

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to and utilisation of services for sexual and reproductive health: a scoping review

“…Studies were conducted in all seven major geographical (World Bank) regions of the world; 28% of the studies were done in North America,28–50 28% in sub-Saharan Africa,51–73 20% in Europe and Central Asia,74–90 8% in East Asia & Pacific,91–97 5% in Latin America and the Caribbean,98–101 2% in South Asia102 103 and 1% in the Middle East and North Africa 104. Studies were conducted in more than 34 countries.…”

“…displays the characteristics of included studies. There was a relatively even distribution of studies across SRH focus areas: 30 (36%) provided evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to or utilisation of contraceptive services,28 29 32 35 37 40 42 47 51–54 57 58 63 67 68 71 73 75 78 82 83 88 91 93 97 104 109 110 21 (25%) on abortion services,30 32–35 40 43 49–52 68 73 80 87 89 90 93 99 103 109 20 (24%) on GBV/IPV services28 31 36 38 39 45 46 48 74 76 77 81 84 86 98 101 102 105 107 109 and 33 (40%) on STI-related services 35 40 41 44 53 55–62 64–66 69–73 79 85 91–96 100 104 106 108 Figure 2. illustrates the distribution of studies among each of the four SRH service focus area by region and by study type.…”

“…51 68 Nonetheless, a large majority of included studies showed a decline in access to and utilisation of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Included studies found substantial declines in the administration of injectables and placement of LARCs, 29 37 51 52 68 71 78 110 a reduction in tubal ligation procedures, 52 challenges with scheduling LARC removal 29 and reduced provision of emergency contraception. 29 75 78 Many studies referenced access to contraceptive services more broadly-not specified by LARC/ SARC-and 15 reported decreases in family planning attendance, appointment availability and declines in unspecified contraceptive method utilisation.…”

Comparison of Pregnancy Preferences Preceding vs Year 1 of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…However, multiple factors are associated with birth rates, and not all individuals preferring to prevent or postpone childbearing were able to do so. Research has documented substantial constraints in accessing contraceptive and abortion care early in the pandemic, 4 , 5 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 followed by implementation of novel approaches to expand access to care via telehealth, mail order, and pharmacies. 33 , 34 Given that social and economic disruptive events can cause population-level increases in people’s desire to prevent or postpone pregnancy, continued implementation and evaluation of these expanded care models will be important to attain reproductive autonomy during future disruptions.…”

Society of Family Planning clinical recommendation: Extended use of long-acting reversible contraception

“…Others may simply want to continue using a device that continues to be effective at pregnancy prevention. Extended use of LARC can have individual and public health benefits [4] . Several methods (such as the Mirena and Liletta levonorgestrel 52 mg IUDs) have already been extended beyond their original FDA approval time frames, demonstrating that extended use is already a proven concept for LARC.…”