| Abstract [eng] |
Justification: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many areas of people's lives, certainly including family planning and reproductive health. Limited access to personal health care services, isolation at home, insecurity when planning a family, fear of pregnancy or childbirth – all these topics caused anxiety and concern in society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific research on the impact of the COVID-19 disease on family planning and fertility analyzes and substantiates with evidence the risks that negatively affect reproductive health in emergency situations. The aim of research: to evaluate the experiences of women and men during the COVID-19 pandemic, related to pregnancy planning and childbirth. Tasks: 1. To assess the impact of the COVID-19 disease on family planning. 2. Assess, how the COVID-19 disease has affected health care services related to pregnancy and childbirth. 3. To reveal men's and women's knowledge and their opinions about the impact of the COVID-19 disease on fertility. Research methods: In order to learn about family planning during the pandemic, a quantitative study was conducted using a questionnaire survey method. 129 completed questionnaires suitable for statistical analysis were received. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Pearson's chi-square test (χ2) was used to assess the relationship between the analyzed categorical variables in different groups of respondents. The difference in results is considered statistically significant when p ≤ 0.05. Results and conclusions of the research: 1. Almost half of the respondents indicated that family planning issues are decided by both partners. For a third of the respondents, the COVID-19 pandemic affected their family planning. A quarter of respondents decided to postpone pregnancy planning, citing the fear of possible effects of the virus on the health of the fetus/newborn and the risk of contracting the coronavirus during pregnancy as the main reason. 2. Two-thirds of the respondents rated their knowledge about contraception as very good and good, but both before and during the pandemic, they mostly used abstinence as a method of contraception and had no need to consult specialists for contraception. During the pandemic, the use of emergency contraception increased almost 4 times and, on the contrary, the need for hormonal and barrier contraception decreased. A third of the respondents indicated that they had experience in receiving pregnancy and/or childbirth care services during the pandemic. More than half of the respondents rated both pregnancy care and delivery services as good or very good. 3. Less than half of respondents believe that abortion rates have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. About two-thirds of the respondents indicated that, in their opinion, the birth rate should also have increased during the pandemic. More than half of the respondents believe that the increase in birth rates was caused by isolation/spending time at home with a partner for a long time. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, family planning, birth rates, pregnancy care, childbirth, contraception. |
