The pandemic has had a far-reaching, life-altering impact on the pregnancy plans of many women in Australia.
For everyone, coronavirus changed things; if not everything. For some women in their ‘baby-making years’, it brought about considerable concerns and unexpected turns. Like, how will a pandemic impact a pregnancy? Will partners be allowed in hospital rooms?
Will waiting to conceive carry risks? How will the economic uncertainty influence hopeful or expecting parents’ financial confidence?
Thousands of families in Australia, and more abroad, have been faced with these concerns.
According to research conducted by Mamamia and Elevit, anxiety around trying to get pregnant has increased. In fact, more than one in two women are feeling more worried than normal about trying for a baby or being pregnant.
One woman who knows this growing concern is 33-year-old Sophia, whose timeline hasn’t changed, but her angst has amplified.
“It’s made me more anxious,” 33-year-old Sophia tells Mamamia. “We have to undergo IVF to fall pregnant. We live across the border from our clinic so I’ve been terrified of having a cycle cancelled or postponed because I couldn’t travel to the clinic.
“Then there’s the risk of coming down with a cold or other coronavirus-like symptoms and not being allowed into the hospital for the embryo transfer. IVF is already hard enough without having to worry about all these extra complications.”
Another woman, Karen, also feels the frustration of the precarious relationship between IVF access and the restrictions of a pandemic.