Teenage mothers’ perceptions of access to contraceptives during the COVID-19 pandemic

Access to contraception in times of COVID

Abstract

Objective: To understand, from the perspective of indigenous and non-indigenous adolescent mothers, the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in access to contraceptive methods. Methods: Qualitative narrative biographical study carried out in 2020-2022, which included indigenous and non-indigenous adolescent women from the middle region of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Through purposeful sampling, fifteen adolescents, who before the pandemic had already been mothers and were using some contraceptive methods, were invited to participate and interviewed individually. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the proposal of critical discourse analysis. The study was approved and supervised by the Ethics Committee of the Health Services of the State of San Luis Potosí (registration SLP-027-2021). Results: The information addressed the phenomenon in two historical dimensions, before and during the pandemic. We identified that before the pandemic, there was already a gap in access, mainly due to the absence of an adult-centric, sexist, and intercultural approach. During the pandemic, this lack of access was reinforced. The most vulnerable were Indigenous adolescents because, in addition to being transferred to distant centers, they felt more vulnerable due to the delay in receiving care or the denial of services. Conclusion: In the participants' perception, the pandemic reinforced the lack of access to contraceptive methods.