The impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on pregnancy and abortion rates in the Republic of Georgia

Abstract

Abstract Background:The Republic of Georgia implemented COVID-19-related restrictions starting on 31 March 2020, when it imposed a 1-month strict lockdown, after which the country continued with some form of restrictions for 1 year. These restrictions created barriers to healthcare access, affected healthcare services, caused severe economic degradation, and changed people’s behavior. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on pregnancy and abortion rates in Georgia. Methods: Information on pregnancy, abortion, and related variables was extracted from the Georgian Birth Registry from January 2018 through April 2022. The final study sample included 232,594 pregnancies and 86,729 abortions. We used interrupted time series analysis to study the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions. Results: There were slightly decreasing trends in pregnancy and abortion rates in the pre-pandemic period. During the 1-month strict lockdown, pregnancy and abortion rates decreased in all investigated age groups. There were no substantial differences in pregnancy or abortion rates in the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period. The precision of all estimates suggested that both small increases and decreases in pregnancy and abortion rates are reasonably compatible with our data. Conclusions: Despite the 1-year-long COVID-19-related restrictions, our results did not indicate substantial long-term changes in pregnancy or abortion rates during the study period for any age group. This may indicate that the restrictions did not substantially influence access to contraception, abortion services, or women’s behavior.