Effect of the September 2009 Sumatra Earthquake on Reproductive Health Services and MDG 5 in the City of Padang, Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia has been making good progress in reproductive health (RH) outcome. This study aimed to examine the effect of the September 2009 Sumatra earthquake on availability and accessibility of RH services and its possible impact on local Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Twenty-six health facilities in Padang City were reviewed and 667 clients directly interviewed. Water supply shortage was most widespread and slowest to recover, taking more than 1 year to normalize. Antenatal and emergency obstetric care was minimally disrupted, and family planning practice of the study couples was not changed by the earthquake. The previous rate of improvement in maternal and child mortality was slowed down, whereas stillbirths increased after the earthquake. Thus, there is a need to speed up the recovery to achieve the local MDGs.

Reproductive and Birth Outcomes in Haiti Before and After the 2010 Earthquake

“…Our findings that unwanted pregnancy and a short interpregnancy interval were more common after the earthquake are consistent with unmet contraceptive need, which has been reported anecdotally and confirmed in previous studies of disasters, 34,35 as well in as these data (Do et al, unpublished observations). This finding may be due in part to the lack of availability of family planning services after the earthquake.…”

“…A study in Sumatra found that improvements in maternal and infant mortality were stalled by an earthquake and that child mortality and stillbirth rose. 34 High rates of spontaneous abortion, but not congenital anomalies, were reported after the Bhopal gas release in India. 36 An increase in neural tube defects was also noted after Hurricane Gilbert, which was thought to be due to decreased folic acid intake after crop destruction.…”

“…30,33 For example, a survey after the Sumatran earthquake found that contraceptive services were the slowest form of health care to recover with the most-effective forms of contraception returning the most slowly. 34 Furthermore, difficulties in accessing contraception were found to be associated with increased unplanned pregnancies after an Indonesian earthquake. 35 Consequently, after a disaster, women may have to rely on less-effective contraceptive methods, which contributes to the increased likelihood of having an unplanned pregnancy 35 and may lead to short interpregnancy intervals among women who already have children.…”

Women's health is not in focus in disaster zones: lessons from the Nepal earthquake

“…While destruction of hospitals and healthcare facilities led to severe lack of antenatal care, pregnancy rates are paradoxically likely to increase following a disaster due to unavailability of contraceptives and reduced bargaining power in sexual situations 11. And while few studies among pregnant earthquake victims have reported reduced birth weight and increased stillbirth rates,12 13 nutritional deficiency is common among pregnant women in disaster situations, and may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes.…”

The changing health priorities of earthquake response and implications for preparedness: a scoping review

“…In the medium term, reproductive outcomes continued to be affected with shorter inter-pregnancy intervals 89 , increases in unplanned pregnancies 89,91 and an overall increase in births 92 . Also reported were reductions in access to reproductive health services as a consequence of the earthquake 91,[93][94][95] .…”