The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the attitude towards childbearing of married aged 20-30 Turkish women who are not yet mothers: a cross-sectional study.
COVID-19
Childbearing
Fertility
Married
Pandemic
Pregnancy
Turkish
Journal
BMC public health
ISSN: 1471-2458
Titre abrégé: BMC Public Health
Pays: England
ID NLM: 100968562
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
01 06 2023
01 06 2023
Historique:
received:
04
10
2022
accepted:
24
05
2023
medline:
5
6
2023
pubmed:
2
6
2023
entrez:
1
6
2023
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed physical health and the economy, but also changed plans for the future with its impact on social status and mental health. Changes in fertility preferences in many countries are also part of this influence. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on attitude toward the childbearing in women. This cross-sectional study was conducted on married aged 20-30 Turkish women who are not yet mothers, between January and June 2022, using Google forms. The questionnaire consisted of the sociodemographic data form, The Attitude towards Fertility and Childbearing Scale, and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. In addition, women were asked about their exposure to COVID-19 and the severity of their illness. Only one-third of participants said they would like to have children in the next year; 61.2% would consider them later, while 4.5% did not. Common reasons for not intending to have children were "it is early to become a mother (34%)", "economic difficulties (25.3%)", and "career plans (16%)". The fear of COVID-19 scale score, with an arithmetic mean of 16.8 ± 5.5, was found to be significantly lower in women who did not want to have children in the next year than in women who wanted to have children (p = 0.042). Except for the profession, there was no significant difference between the COVID-19 fear scores by the participants' sociodemographic characteristics. Among the married aged 20-30 Turkish women who are not yet mothers, the rate of those who intend to childbearing was found still low. The main reason for women who did not want to have children in the next year was that they thought it was too early to have a child. Besides low fear of COVID-19 scale scores; economic concerns and career plans, which came in second and third place in the reason list, showed that the fear of infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic did not affect the women's attitudes toward fertility.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed physical health and the economy, but also changed plans for the future with its impact on social status and mental health. Changes in fertility preferences in many countries are also part of this influence. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on attitude toward the childbearing in women.
METHODS
This cross-sectional study was conducted on married aged 20-30 Turkish women who are not yet mothers, between January and June 2022, using Google forms. The questionnaire consisted of the sociodemographic data form, The Attitude towards Fertility and Childbearing Scale, and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. In addition, women were asked about their exposure to COVID-19 and the severity of their illness.
RESULTS
Only one-third of participants said they would like to have children in the next year; 61.2% would consider them later, while 4.5% did not. Common reasons for not intending to have children were "it is early to become a mother (34%)", "economic difficulties (25.3%)", and "career plans (16%)". The fear of COVID-19 scale score, with an arithmetic mean of 16.8 ± 5.5, was found to be significantly lower in women who did not want to have children in the next year than in women who wanted to have children (p = 0.042). Except for the profession, there was no significant difference between the COVID-19 fear scores by the participants' sociodemographic characteristics.
CONCLUSIONS
Among the married aged 20-30 Turkish women who are not yet mothers, the rate of those who intend to childbearing was found still low. The main reason for women who did not want to have children in the next year was that they thought it was too early to have a child. Besides low fear of COVID-19 scale scores; economic concerns and career plans, which came in second and third place in the reason list, showed that the fear of infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic did not affect the women's attitudes toward fertility.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37264373
doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15976-2
pii: 10.1186/s12889-023-15976-2
pmc: PMC10233525
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
1050Informations de copyright
© 2023. The Author(s).
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