The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on reproductive intentions and contraceptive use among females in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

ObjectivePandemics have affected many people's social and emotional lives. Conception planning, contraceptive usage, and pregnancy intentions are activities with minimal research. This study is the first to evaluate how the COVID‐19 pandemic influenced reproductive plans and contraceptive use among women during the pandemic in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2022.MethodsA cross‐sectional survey was conducted by sending an online questionnaire to married women from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire included demographics, personal obstetrics information, changes in pregnancy intentions owing to the COVID‐19 pandemic, and questions about contraceptive usage. Qualitative data were presented as frequencies, and a χ2 test was performed to determine the relationships among the variables.ResultsA total of 639 women enrolled in the study; most participants were 25–34 years old, and most indicated they changed their reproductive intentions during the pandemic (49%). Family planning accounted for 25.8% of participants who changed their reproductive intentions. Only 17.5% changed their choices because of fear of the COVID‐19 impact. The percentage of women using contraception was significantly reduced during the lockdown, to 36.8%. Oral contraceptive pills were the most frequently used method during the curfew period (17.5%).ConclusionThe COVID‐19 lockdown affected the reproductive intentions of most women in Jeddah, and it significantly reduced contraceptive use.

Assessment of the Perinatal Care Effectiveness During the COVID-19 Pandemic at the Regional Level

“…In Ivano-Frankivsk region, as well as in Ukraine as a whole, there is a decrease in the birth rate, the rate of which decreased slightly until 2020, but in 2021 there was a sharp decrease in the birth rate (by 9.76%), which may be due to the tendency to postpone reproductive plans for the period after the pandemic, which is also noted by other researchers. According to several studies, about 50.0% of women who planned pregnancy before the pandemic changed their reproductive plans during the pandemic [30,31]. Of 969 women who were included in a study in Poland [32], 57.2% did not change their birth plans, 28.4% changed their plans, and 14.4% of respondents answered «not sure» to this question.…”