Brazilian women avoiding pregnancy during Zika epidemic

Abstract

Brazil now has confirmed 1845 cases of Congenital Zika syndrome in babies (TORCHZ) in a group of 9091 suspected cases.used a face-to-face questionnaire to collect sociodemographic and opinion and practices data about reproductive health and pregnancy and a secret ballot box to gather information related to abortion experiences. We collected data from a nationally representative sample of 2002 urban Brazilian women between the ages of 18–39 years and literate, thereby corresponding to 83% of the total female population (with a confidence interval of 2%). The results provide an important first glimpse into how the Zika epidemic has shaped pregnancy intentions among women in Brazil. A large proportion (56%) of women reported thatthey had avoided (or tried to avoid) pregnancy because of the Zika epidemic.