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View all search resultsGiving birth in time of COVID-19
While the women who have become pregnant during the pandemic still have hope that they can give birth when the danger of COVID-19 subsides, what about the women who became pregnant before the pandemic hit and have needed to give birth when COVID-19 has been at its peak?
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A
n increase in unplanned pregnancies is considered one the side effects of the stay-at-home orders issued during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not just because people are incredibly bored and have nothing better to do than make babies, but also because access to birth control has become difficult.
The National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) reported that there were more than 400,000 unplanned pregnancy in May as large scale social restrictions (PSBB) limited access to healthcare facilities that provide birth control.
While the women who have become pregnant during the pandemic still have hope that they can give birth when the danger of COVID-19 subsides, what about the women who became pregnant before the pandemic hit and have needed to give birth when COVID-19 has been at its peak?
Salma, a homemaker living in Rumbai, Riau Islands, delivered a baby girl in mid-May. She had a lot to worry about before the delivery, as she has an infant that still needs full-time care, and her mother, who lives in West Java, could not accompany her or her two older children as travel had been banned.
“I wasn’t sure who could take care of my children when I gave birth to my new baby and stayed in the hospital to recover, as there was a possibility that children wouldn’t be allowed to stay in the hospital room,” Salma told The Jakarta Post, adding that her part-time maid was not allowed to enter the housing complex she lived in to take care of her older children because of social restrictions.
Fortunately, Salma’s older children were eventually allowed to stay in her spacious room in the hospital.
“The hospital said it was not recommended to bring children along, but they let my children into the hospital, although my youngest had to be put in a stroller with a plastic shield whenever she was outside my room,” said Salma.
