Abortion care in a pandemic: an analysis of the number and social profile of people requesting and receiving abortion care during the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 16 to June 14, 2020) in Flanders, Belgium
Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic and the national COVID-19 measures might have increased potential barriers to abortion care and created new ones, especially for vulnerable groups. This study documents the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown measures on the profile of people going throu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2021-08-01
|
| Series: | Archives of Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-021-00665-6 |
| _version_ | 1818728987104378880 |
|---|---|
| author | Leen De Kort Jonas Wood Edwin Wouters Sarah Van de Velde |
| author_facet | Leen De Kort Jonas Wood Edwin Wouters Sarah Van de Velde |
| author_sort | Leen De Kort |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic and the national COVID-19 measures might have increased potential barriers to abortion care and created new ones, especially for vulnerable groups. This study documents the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown measures on the profile of people going through the abortion process. Methods Using anonymized patient records from a Belgian abortion centre, we first compared the number of abortion requests and procedures during the first COVID-19 lockdown with the same months in the five preceding years. Next, we analysed the social profile of people requesting an abortion in those two time periods and looked at the number of long-acting reversible contraceptive devices (LARC) placed after curettage. Results The abortion centre saw a drop in the number of abortion requests during the lockdown. This difference was more pronounced for people in paid employment and people using (modern) contraception. People were also more likely to request an abortion earlier in their pregnancy. The drop in abortion procedures and LARC’s placed after curettage was proportionate to the drop in abortion requests and did not differ according to clients’ characteristics. Conclusion Questions arose concerning the potential selectivity with which COVID-19 influenced the need for abortion care and accessibility to services. Although there was a general drop in abortion requests and procedures during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the studied abortion centre, our results suggest that the profile of people requesting and receiving an abortion did only slightly change during the lockdown, and did not affect vulnerable groups visibly harder. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:38:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-924122f873a449b3a448a4a09a605915 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2049-3258 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:38:43Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Archives of Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-924122f873a449b3a448a4a09a6059152022-12-21T21:30:02ZengBMCArchives of Public Health2049-32582021-08-017911810.1186/s13690-021-00665-6Abortion care in a pandemic: an analysis of the number and social profile of people requesting and receiving abortion care during the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 16 to June 14, 2020) in Flanders, BelgiumLeen De Kort0Jonas Wood1Edwin Wouters2Sarah Van de Velde3Centre for Population, Family and Health, Department of Sociology, University of AntwerpCentre for Population, Family and Health, Department of Sociology, University of AntwerpCentre for Population, Family and Health, Department of Sociology, University of AntwerpCentre for Population, Family and Health, Department of Sociology, University of AntwerpAbstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic and the national COVID-19 measures might have increased potential barriers to abortion care and created new ones, especially for vulnerable groups. This study documents the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown measures on the profile of people going through the abortion process. Methods Using anonymized patient records from a Belgian abortion centre, we first compared the number of abortion requests and procedures during the first COVID-19 lockdown with the same months in the five preceding years. Next, we analysed the social profile of people requesting an abortion in those two time periods and looked at the number of long-acting reversible contraceptive devices (LARC) placed after curettage. Results The abortion centre saw a drop in the number of abortion requests during the lockdown. This difference was more pronounced for people in paid employment and people using (modern) contraception. People were also more likely to request an abortion earlier in their pregnancy. The drop in abortion procedures and LARC’s placed after curettage was proportionate to the drop in abortion requests and did not differ according to clients’ characteristics. Conclusion Questions arose concerning the potential selectivity with which COVID-19 influenced the need for abortion care and accessibility to services. Although there was a general drop in abortion requests and procedures during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the studied abortion centre, our results suggest that the profile of people requesting and receiving an abortion did only slightly change during the lockdown, and did not affect vulnerable groups visibly harder.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-021-00665-6COVID-19AbortionBelgiumReproductive healthHealthcare services |
| spellingShingle | Leen De Kort Jonas Wood Edwin Wouters Sarah Van de Velde Abortion care in a pandemic: an analysis of the number and social profile of people requesting and receiving abortion care during the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 16 to June 14, 2020) in Flanders, Belgium Archives of Public Health COVID-19 Abortion Belgium Reproductive health Healthcare services |
| title | Abortion care in a pandemic: an analysis of the number and social profile of people requesting and receiving abortion care during the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 16 to June 14, 2020) in Flanders, Belgium |
| title_full | Abortion care in a pandemic: an analysis of the number and social profile of people requesting and receiving abortion care during the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 16 to June 14, 2020) in Flanders, Belgium |
| title_fullStr | Abortion care in a pandemic: an analysis of the number and social profile of people requesting and receiving abortion care during the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 16 to June 14, 2020) in Flanders, Belgium |
| title_full_unstemmed | Abortion care in a pandemic: an analysis of the number and social profile of people requesting and receiving abortion care during the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 16 to June 14, 2020) in Flanders, Belgium |
| title_short | Abortion care in a pandemic: an analysis of the number and social profile of people requesting and receiving abortion care during the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 16 to June 14, 2020) in Flanders, Belgium |
| title_sort | abortion care in a pandemic an analysis of the number and social profile of people requesting and receiving abortion care during the first covid 19 lockdown march 16 to june 14 2020 in flanders belgium |
| topic | COVID-19 Abortion Belgium Reproductive health Healthcare services |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-021-00665-6 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leendekort abortioncareinapandemicananalysisofthenumberandsocialprofileofpeoplerequestingandreceivingabortioncareduringthefirstcovid19lockdownmarch16tojune142020inflandersbelgium AT jonaswood abortioncareinapandemicananalysisofthenumberandsocialprofileofpeoplerequestingandreceivingabortioncareduringthefirstcovid19lockdownmarch16tojune142020inflandersbelgium AT edwinwouters abortioncareinapandemicananalysisofthenumberandsocialprofileofpeoplerequestingandreceivingabortioncareduringthefirstcovid19lockdownmarch16tojune142020inflandersbelgium AT sarahvandevelde abortioncareinapandemicananalysisofthenumberandsocialprofileofpeoplerequestingandreceivingabortioncareduringthefirstcovid19lockdownmarch16tojune142020inflandersbelgium |