A baby boom after the coronavirus pandemic? It's not going to happen, study claims
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Don’t expect a baby boom after the coronavirus pandemic.
A new study published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology found that more than 80 percent of people do not plan to conceive during the COVID-19 crisis.
VITAMIN D LEVELS MAY IMPACT COVID-19 MORTALITY RATES, STUDY CLAIMS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The University of Florence in Italy surveyed almost 1,500 people online regarding their child-bearing plans about three weeks into the lockdown in Italy. Each person had been in a heterosexual relationship for a year or more.
Over one-third of people who were planning to try to have a child before the pandemic put their wishes on hold. This was mostly because of future economic concerns and worries about the impact the virus could have on a pregnancy.
Portrait of an adorable baby boy laying on the bed at home
The other 60 percent who were trying to have a baby before the pandemic continued with their plans, mostly because they feared infertility would prevent the possibility if they waited, the study says.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For 11 percent of respondents, the pandemic actually inspired them to conceive. Mostly women, this group feels that having a child would bring a change and create positivity in their lives.
Condom sales have taken a nosedive worldwide since the start of the pandemic, but it’s not because people are having unprotected sex. Thanks to lockdowns around the world, hookups are on hold for the time being and many couples are having less sex due to a “manifestation of anxiety” caused by the coronavirus. Birth-control pills have also become out of reach for women in rural areas in Africa and Asia, the AP reports.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And while births may not be on the rise nine months from now, the number of home births presently happening in New York City will increase. Local midwives and doulas saw an 85 percent increase in calls after hospitals had to enact mandates restricting laboring women from bringing their partners and family into the delivery room with them.