Impact of COVID 19 on Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of COVID 19 on the sexual and reproductive health of women (SRHW) in Bangladesh. The study is exploratory in nature and follows the phenomenological approach. To collect data, the study interviewed 10 pregnant women and 5 doctors. To check the validity of this primary data, the study also adopted secondary sources like content analysis. The study findings revealed the three areas of SRHW as mostly vulnerable due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The major area of risks and vulnerabilities was related to maternal and infant health including the susceptibility of the infants to be infected by their mothers, the lack of healthcare services and the resulting consequences like anemia, miscarriage, premature delivery and the further risk for their fetuses. The second major area included the lack of contraceptive care and other family planning services due to the economic crises and the hiking prices of those services and other daily essentials. And the third area of the risks and vulnerability of SRHW included the exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and its causes such as staying home all day long, substance abuse, family maintenance pressure, parenting pressure, economic tension and IPV. Thus, the study imperative is that the government, the policymakers, civil society, medical practitioners and by and large the mass people all should come in a common platform and take proper and timely measures to fight against the negative impact of COVID 19 pandemic.