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Nadia Diamond-Smith, University of California, San Francisco
Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, University of California, San Francisco
Sirena Gutierrez, University of California
Sarah Francis, Upswell LLC
Nandita Saikia, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Sumeet Patil, NBER
COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns and restrictions on movement may be impacting women and men’s fertility preferences and access to and use of health care services including family planning, prenatal and postnatal care. Yet we know little of its impact to date, especially in low- and middle-income countries, including India. Understanding how COVID-19 impacts preferences and use of these services now, and as persists, is essential for improving access and use today. Additionally, collecting data as the pandemic unfolds can inform fertility and other health related outcomes we may see in the future. To meet this need, we conducted 4 rounds of monthly online surveys with a volunteer sample of men and women on Facebook from India between April and July 2020; a period when the national lockdown was tapered from the strictest to restricted. We find that about 70% of people reported that their fertility preferences were changed, mostly to wanting children later. While about 75% of respondents reported no barriers to family planning due to COVID-19, about half of those pregnant or postpartum reported barriers to pre and postnatal care. Fear of going to a facility and financial concerns were primary barriers.
Keywords: COVID-19, Fertility and childbirth, Gender, Family planning and contraception
Presented in Session 12. COVID-19 and Consequences of Lockdowns on Health Outcomes