COVID-19 impact in abortions' practice, a regional French evaluation

Abstract

Introduction: On March 14, 2020, France has entered into stage 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic. The French National Health Agency (Haute Autorité de Santé) has urgently recommended the use of medical abortion at home between 7 and 9 weeks of gestation and telemedicine for medical abortion consultations. The main objective of this study was to assess whether the emergency measures undertaken for the management of abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic led to practice changes, and to obtain practitioners' opinions regarding the continuation of these measures.

Material and methods: This was a retrospective, quantitative, online self-administered survey from August 6, 2020 to October 2, 2020, aimed at health workers performing abortions (midwives, general practitioners, gynecologists obstetricians and medical gynecologists) in the South and Corse regions in France.

Results: Among the 124 practitioners included, 59/77 (76.6 %) offered medical abortion at home between 7 and 9 weeks of gestation and 61/89 (68.5 %) of them wished to carry on this practice. 55/123 (44.7 %) practitioners offered telemedicine for medical abortion at home and 71/115 (61.7 %) of them wished to carry on this practice.

Discussion: The emergency measures implemented by the the French National Health Agency (Haute Autorité de Santé) for medical abortion are approved and followed by the majority of health workers performing abortions in the South and Corse regions. This measure may be extended out of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Medical abortion; Telemedicine.