1.4 million unintended pregnancies recorded amid COVID-19 pandemic

MANILA, Philippines — Some 1.4 million unintended pregnancies have been recorded due to the disruption in contraception services since the COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared a year ago, according to the United Nations’ sexual and reproductive health agency.

Figures from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and Avenir Health indicated that an estimated 12 million women have experienced disruptions in their family planning services.

This latest number came as many countries, particularly high-income nations, showed early signs of steeply?declining birth rates.

“Together, the findings demonstrate how the pandemic has severely impacted women’s control over their own reproductive health, and undermined family planning,” the UNFPA said.

Analyzing contraceptive service disruptions last year in 115 lower- and middle-income countries, data from the UNFPA, Google Mobility and other surveys found that access to family planning was hit by travel restrictions, interrupted supply chains and overwhelmed health facilities, among other factors.

“The results, for many women, have been life-changing,” the agency said.

It explained that unintended pregnancies put a great strain on families that are already struggling under pandemic-related financial burdens.

Its consequences are not simply economic; they are also linked to increased maternal morbidity, mortality and unsafe abortions, according to the UNFPA.

The agency’s projections showed that family planning services were largely disrupted in April and May last year for an average of 3.6 months.

Earlier estimates, made in April 2020, illustrated that serious family planning disruptions lasting six months could affect 47 million women in low- and middle-income countries, and result in seven million unintended pregnancies.

The UNFPA, however, said quick action has helped many health systems to maintain or restore essential health services, including contraceptives.

The agency pointed out that even amid rising costs and supply chain constraints, it was able to procure and deliver contraceptives and other reproductive health supplies as well as personal protective equipment for health workers.

Creative efforts, such as using a ride-hailing app to deliver contraceptives, outreach?through short messaging service and targeting family planning counseling to?quarantine centers also helped maintain or restore services.

The UNFPA said many women continue to face serious obstacles to receiving family planning and other lifesaving reproductive health services.

Although the total costs of the pandemic are not yet known, the World Health Organization estimated that 2.5 million people around the world have died from COVID-19.

When the full toll is calculated, the UNFPA upheld that it would have to include the “extraordinary consequences” borne by women and girls, including those whose futures have been rewritten, bodies have been injured or lives have been lost due to disruptions in access to contraception and health care services.