I Dewa Gede Karma on Being Pregnant in a Pandemic, Extra Burden for Women

I Dewa Gede Karma on Being Pregnant in a Pandemic, Extra Burden for Women

 

Magdelene.co, 11/07/2020  – I Dewa Gede Karma Wisana, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Demography Institute, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia, said it is too early to claim that an increase in the number of pregnancies will lead to a population boom. 

“The immediate impact is an increase in the demand for reproductive health services such as obstetric examination and  delivery process. In fact, health facilities are already overwhelmed by COVID-19 handling. This seems to be overlooked,” said Dewa.

Promotion misses target

The National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) together with various mass organizations and communities have promoted the importance of population control and the use of birth control devices (contraceptives), even during the pandemic, but the number of pregnancies keeps increasing. Dewa argued that this is due information pile-up during the pandemic.

“People get so much information, particularly related to COVID-19 and its handling. This is probably why information about reproductive health or planned parenthood piles up and is forgotten,” he said.

“However, what I consider more urgent is the issue of unmeet need for contraceptives because of problems on the supply side and/or health facilities that provide reproductive services and contraceptives,” said Dewa.

Additional burden for women

Compared to pregnancy outside a pademic, being pregnant in a pandemic-triggered  crisis means heavier burden for women.

“For working women, fear of losing their job and income is the most serious concern that comes with pregnancy. If their spouses are also facing job issues, this will affect their ability to cover the expenses of pregnancy and the delivery process,” said Dewa.

Source: https://magdalene.co/story/hamil-di-tengah-pandemi-beban-ekstra-harus-diemban-perempuan

(lem)