The nation-wide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 has adversely impacted access of millions of women to contraceptives.

With the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare suspending sterilisations and insertion of IUCDs at public facilities until further notice, and restricted movement due to the lockdown making the commercial market less accessible, an additional 2.38 million unintended pregnancies are likely, says a policy brief by Foundation for Reproductive Health Services India, Delhi.

Over 25.6 million couples are not being able to access contraception services during the lockdown and things are unlikely to return to normalcy before September, predicts the FRHS, a Delhi-based organization.

Besides, India stares at about 8,30, 000 unsafe abortions if public and private sector services will return to normalcy by September. Unsafe abortions often lead to mother’s death and the researchers predict that over 1,700 mothers could lose life by September if all reproductive health services resume to normalcy by then.

In case, it takes longer, then the number of unwanted pregnancies could reach to 2.95 million and unsafe abortions to 1.04 million leading to 2,100 mother deaths.

In 2019, the public health sector supplied – 3.5 million sterilisations, 5.7 million intra-uterine contraceptive devices, 1.8 million injectable contraceptives, 410 million cycles of oral contraceptive pills, 2.5 million emergency contraceptive pills and 322 million condoms.

Most of the health sector staff are currently deployed for covid19 treatment or sitting idle as services have been discontinued.

If the availability of family planning services does not normalise by September 2020, 27.18 million couples would be unable to access contraception, resulting in 2.95 million unintended pregnancies, 844,483 childbirths, 1.04 million unsafe abortions and 2,165 maternal deaths, it says.
The number of births may be even higher if pregnant women are forced to carry an unintended pregnancy to term, in the absence of abortion services due to covdi19 restrictions.
The discontinuation of these services could also derail India’s efforts in reducing mother mortality and population stabilization.
FRHS recommends restoration of family planning services and easing the restrictions on sale of morning after pills among others.