AMID the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Health (DOH) has flagged the major service disruptions on family planning (FP), and worries that continued lockdowns may lead to a spike in unintended pregnancies.
“There are studies that . . . [an estimated] 7 million unintended pregnancies may occur, all over the world, if the lockdown carries on for six months [if major disruptions to health services will continue],” Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during the virtual media forum with health reporters on Tuesday.
She was referring to data released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in April 2020, which showed the enormous impact Covid-19 is having on women as health systems become overloaded, facilities close or only provide a limited set of services to women and girls, and many choose to skip important medical checkups owing to fear of contracting the virus.
“We have the ‘Usap Tayo’ family planning campaign to keep talking about family planning during this stressful and uncertain times because we want to avoid unintended pregnancy from unmet family planning age,” Vergeire said, adding that based on their own study, about 25 percent of FP services with local hospitals and Regional Health Units are hampered by the pandemic.
Vergeire stressed that FP is just one of their essential health services along with immunization and provision of medicines for tuberculosis and HIV.
Among the factors affecting FP services in local hospitals and barangay health centers, she added, are limited staff, limited mobility, lack of stocks and physical distancing.
Couples in public health centers are offered FP information and services by doctors and other healthcare providers—but they can choose freely—between the natural methods of family planning or go with the medically safe modern methods like pills, injectables, condoms, intrauterine devices (IUDs), bilateral tubal ligation for women, or vasectomy for men.
Likewise, Vergeire revealed that there is a “decline” in pregnant women giving birth in hospitals for fear of contracting the disease. The DOH official, however, said that they will provide the exact figure as soon as they are finished with their report.
“But we are receiving reports from the hospital about this [pregnant women not giving birth in the hospital],” she said, adding that some women prefer birthing clinics.
She gave assurances that there were enough midwives in the country even before the pandemic.
Image credits: Bernard Testa
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