Abortion Services Utilization at KAHS during COVID-19 Lockdown
Keywords:
Abortion, contraceptives, first trimester abortion, post abortion care, second trimester abortionAbstract
Background: Accessibility to the contraception and safe abortion services has been severely compromised by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown measures. It has been estimated the most impacted population are the vulnerable female of lesser developed countries. We have no data at present regarding the utilization of abortion services during lockdown. So, by this study we want to know how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted abortion services utilization has at our center.
Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Karnali Academy of Health Sciences. The data were collected from the hospital records of Maternal and Child Health clinic and maternity ward. Census sampling was used. Data entry were done in excel and analyzed using SPSS 16 version. Frequencies and percentages were used for descriptive analysis.
Results: During the study period of nine months, a total of one hundred and ninety eight cases had come to the centre for safe abortion care services. During the non-lockdown period there were about 41 cases in the 4 months period, about 10.25 cases per month was. And in the lock down period there were about 157 women in 5 months, which was in average 31.4 cases per month. First trimester abortion cases was 5.75 cases per month during the non-lockdown period and 19 during the lockdown period.
Conclusion: There was a sharp increase in the cases of abortion during the lockdown by about three times. So the concerned authority should specially focus on the contraceptive accessibility of the couples during the lockdown period. Also the services delivery related to the reproductive health should be kept in high priority and should be made available even during the lockdown.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Dr. Rajiv Shah; Subi Basnyat, Prem Prasad Panta
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author(s) retain the copyright and the full publishing right without restriction under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) which allows readers to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, even commercially, provided the work is properly attributed. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Author(s) grant the non-exclusive publishing right to the Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences (JKAHS). The publishing rights include the rights to publish, reproduce, distribute, include in indexes or search databases or other media in print or online. The JKAHS may require revisions to the manuscript before acceptance for publication or may choose not to publish it based on the judgement of the editors. Further, JKAHS might retract, withdraw, or publish a correction or other notice after publication, if such publication would be inconsistent with the good publication practices and associated guidelines set forth by the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices).
More information about the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License can be found in the webpage of Creative Commons (CC) by following the link provided below: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
