The Corona pandemic has made it difficult to obtain contraception for women in a number of poor countries, and some experts now speculate that there will be a significant increase in the number of births, even if pregnancies are unwanted.

While couples in some countries think twice about having a child amid the global outbreak of the Corona pandemic, the choice for women in countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines is a kind of luxury that many women do not possess due to the pandemic.

The birth of 140 million children

The United Nations Children's Fund "UNICEF" does not want to predict the possibility of this increase, but it expected that the year 2020 will witness the birth of 140 million children, including 113 million after the outbreak of the Corona virus last March.

The imposition of curfews, the closure of stores, the announcement of quarantines, and the instability of supply chains of goods made it impossible to obtain birth control pills and condoms.

In Indonesia, the number of people seeking government advice and guidance, and using free contraception, decreased by 10% during April and May 2020, compared to the same period before the outbreak of the pandemic, according to Eni Justina, deputy director of the National Planning Agency. In the country.

Hospital neonatal unit in Manila records highest birth rate due to epidemic (German)

Half a million unwanted pregnancies

It is expected that between 375 thousand and a half million unwanted pregnancies will occur in early 2021, an increase from the pre-pandemic period, according to the Indonesian official, who added that the planning agency has provided midwives wearing personal protection clothing from the virus to be able to distribute contraceptives.

The largest maternity hospital in the Philippines also expects a significant increase in the number of births next year, partly due to the difficulty in obtaining contraception during the lockdown period in the country due to the pandemic.

There are currently between 30-40 births per day at Dr. José Fabila Memorial Hospital, according to Diana Rose Caebe, a doctor and spokeswoman for the hospital.

"We are waiting for an increase in the number of births during the first quarter of this year, not only because the husbands were together all the time because of the lockdown period, but also because access to contraception has become impossible," she said in an interview with German News Agency.

For fear of infection with Corona

And for women who want to obtain reproductive health services, they are either unable to move to the hospital location due to the closure, or they are afraid to go to the hospital for fear of infection with the Corona virus, according to Doctor Kaepe.

Although condoms are available in pharmacies, the burden of family planning in the Philippines usually falls on the shoulders of women.

In addition, the prices of condoms and birth control pills can be high, and are not justified when people - who are already struggling to earn a living - lose their jobs or face a drop in their incomes.

Kaepe said that the hospital and its medical staff are ready for the expected increase in the number of births.

She pointed out that the current number of births is low, compared to the pre-pandemic period, when the number increased to between 60-70 births per day, and the hospital was already striving to absorb the numbers of pregnant women before the pandemic, as it sometimes happened that two women shared a single bed with their newborns.

A mother takes care of her baby in an incubator in a neonatal unit in a hospital in the Philippine (German) capital

What will happen to mothers?

"I will not hide the truth about what is happening inside a government hospital like the one I work at, and even if we want to implement social distancing measures, what will happen to mothers if we refuse them to enter the hospital?"

She added that the hospital is currently placing two beds side by side, to allow space to host between 6-5 mothers with their children.

She explained that "the mothers who come to us usually do not have money, and if they are refused entry, then you know that the result will be either the death of the infant or worse, which is that the mother will die as well."

"We know the situation is difficult, but we cannot refuse them to go to hospital," she said.

The first pregnancy was a terrible time

The hospital has a maximum capacity of 408 patients, Kaepe said.

Because of the pandemic, the hospital was forced to allocate 30% of the beds as isolation areas for potential infected with the virus, according to the Ministry of Health.

Since then, a labor room for childbirth has been established, along with an operating room in the isolation area, Kaepe said.

The doctor concluded, "This is the worst time for everyone, and if you are a mother in your first pregnancy, then the time will be difficult."