Barriers to Maternal and Reproductive Health Care in India Due to COVID-19
Upswell supported every stage of this project, from intervention design through implementation, including running Facebook and Instagram ads and monitoring and evaluation. Upswell also contributed to the final report.
Background:
COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions could limit access to health care services, including contraceptive, prenatal, and postnatal care for both men and women. How far access was affected in low- and middle-income countries such as India was not well understood. Measuring the pandemic’s effect on the use of these services was needed to improve access and use, according to the study.
The study examined perceived barriers to contraceptive, prenatal, and postnatal care in India, and how those barriers changed over four months of the pandemic. The researchers ran four rounds of monthly online surveys with 9,140 men and women recruited through Facebook ads in India between April and July 2020. Over that period, India eased its national lockdown from the strictest level to a restricted one.
About half of pregnant or postpartum respondents reported barriers to prenatal and postnatal care, the study found, while about 75% of respondents reported no barriers to contraception due to COVID-19. Reported barriers to contraceptive, prenatal, and postnatal care all increased significantly over time.
Respondents also reported changes in fertility preferences, with more wanting to delay having a child than to have one sooner because of COVID-19. The study suggested that barriers to reproductive and maternal health care in India increased as the early pandemic went on, and that health care providers need to address these barriers to ensure access to care.
