Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on voluntary terminations of pregnancy in an Italian metropolitan area

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown from 9 March to 4 May 2020 changed social, familial, and sexual relationships, as well as how citizens interact with the health services. How these profound changes have affected sexuality, contraception and voluntary terminations of pregnancy is still largely undescribed. The main objective of this study was therefore to find out whether the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown affected the demand for legal abortion.

Material and methods

The study period was divided into three phases: the pre-pandemic (January and February 2020); lockdown (March and April); and post-lockdown (May and June). The number and characteristics of women requesting pregnancy termination each month during that time were compared with the stats for the same months in the preceding three years (2017–2019).

Results

Immediately after national lockdown, the number of voluntary abortions markedly declined (-40.45%). The effect was more evident in women below 20 years of age (-66.67%), employed versus unemployed women (-42.71% vs. −21.05), and non-Italian versus Italian citizens (-53.01 vs. −32.85). No difference was found in the mean time from request to execution of the procedure, or in the type of the procedure used.

Conclusion(s)

National lockdown reduced the number of unwanted pregnancies, especially in younger women. The Italian health service’s response to the demand appears to have been unaffected by the pandemic. However, as the demand for abortion is still high, probably due to unplanned pregnancies among cohabitants within a stable relationship, contraception guidance should be improved among women traditionally deemed low-risk in terms of sexual behaviour.

COVID-19大流行对意大利大都市地区自愿终止妊娠的影响 摘要

目的：COVID-19大流行和2020年3月9日至5月4日的全国封锁改变了社会、家庭和性关系, 以及公民与卫生服务的互动方式。这些深刻的变化如何影响性行为、避孕和自愿终止妊娠在很大程度上仍未被描述。因此, 本研究的主要目的是了解COVID-19大流行和随后的封锁是否影响了对合法流产的需求。

材料与方法：研究期分为三个阶段：大流行前（2020年1月和2月）；封锁（3月和4月）；封锁后（5月和6月）。将在此期间每月要求终止妊娠的女性数量和特征与前三年（2017-2019年）同月的统计数据进行比较。

结果：国家封锁后, 自愿流产的数量立即显著下降（-40.45%）。这一影响在20岁以下女性（-66.67%）、就业女性与失业女性（-42.71% vs. -21.05%）、非意大利公民与意大利公民（-53.01% vs. -32.85%）中更为明显。从请求到执行程序的平均时间或采用的程序类型没有发现差异。

结论：全国封锁减少了意外怀孕的数量, 特别是年轻女性。意大利卫生服务部门对这一需求的反应似乎没有受到大流行的影响。然而, 由于流产的需求仍然很高, 可能是因为关系稳定的同居者之间的意外怀孕, 传统上被认为性行为风险较低的女性的避孕指导应该得到改进。

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2
• 2019-nCoV
• legal abortion
• voluntary termination of pregnancy
• family planning

Disclosure statement

The Authors report no conflict to interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.