Impact of Covid-lockdown on abortion management at a family planning in Brussels

Abstract

Introduction

In response to the Covid-19 lockdown, we developed a new abortion protocol in a family planning in Brussels. This study evaluates the effects of the lockdown on the abortion management and its impact on patients’ characteristics.

Methods

A retrospective study compared the characteristics and management of patients who terminated their pregnancies at the same family planning (CHU Saint-Pierre Brussels) between 14 March and 6 May 2020 and during the same time period in 2019.

Results

Patients having an abortion in 2020 (n = 87) were in average two years older compared to patients having abortions in 2019 (n = 93) (31 years ± 13 vs 29 years ± 13 p < .011), the number of abortions was similar to those of previous years, and the characteristics of the population were identical. The management of abortions has changed significantly as the patients terminated their pregnancies earlier in 2020 than in 2019 (7 W and 1 day ± 3 days versus 8 W and 5 days ± 3 days p < .01), mostly with medication and at home (61.4% versus 2% p < .001), but with similar effectiveness.

Conclusion

Due to the lockdown, we have accelerated the time required to obtain an appointment and shortened the delay between the abortion request and the pregnancy termination, permitting an earlier management mainly through the use of medical- and at home abortion. Given the satisfactory results, we consider now to implement this new protocol beyond the lockdown period.

摘要

介绍：为了应对新冠肺炎的封锁, 我们在布鲁塞尔制定了一项新的计划生育堕胎方案。本研究评估了封锁对堕胎管理和患者特征的影响。

方法：回顾性研究比较了2020年3月14日至5月6日期间和2019年同期在同一个医院（圣皮埃尔大学医学中心）进行计划生育终止妊娠的患者的特征和管理。

结果：与2019年堕胎患者（n=93）相比, 2020年堕胎患者平均年长2岁（n=87）（31±13岁 vs 29±13岁, p<0.011）, 堕胎数量与前几年相似, 人口特征相同。2020年比2019年的终止妊娠更早（7周1天±3天 vs 8周5天±3日, p<0.01）, 堕胎管理发生了显著变化, 主要是通过药物治疗和在家进行（61.4% vs 2%, p<0.001）, 但效果相似。

结论：由于新冠肺炎封锁, 我们缩短预约时间, 降低堕胎申请和终止妊娠之间的延迟, 允许以药物流产和在家进行的早期管理。效果令人满意, 我们现在考虑在封锁结束以后也实行该方案。

Keywords:

• Reproductive rights
• abortion access
• home-abortion
• self-managed abortion
• Covid-19
• Covid-19 lockdown
• physical distancing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).