Indonesia worried over lockdown baby boom

Drive for smaller families set to take hit

The government vehicles began appearing in Indonesian towns and cities in May, equipped with loudspeakers blaring a blunt message.

“You can get married. But don’t get pregnant,” health workers read from a script. Indonesian officials are worried about a possible unintended consequence of the country’s coronavirus restrictions: a post-pandemic baby boom.

In April, as people across Indonesia stayed home, about 10 million married couples stopped using contraception, according to the National Population and Family Planning Agency, which collects data from clinics and hospitals that distribute birth control.

Many women couldn’t get access to contraceptives because their health care provider was closed. Others did not want to risk a visit, for fear of catching the virus.

Now, officials are expecting a wave of unplanned births next year, many of them to families who were already struggling.

“We are nervous about leaving home, not to mention going to the hospital, which is the source of all diseases,” said Lana Mutisari, 36, a married woman in a suburb of Jakarta, the capital, who has been putting off an appointment to get an IUD. “There are all kinds of viruses there.”

Hasto Wardoyo, an obstetrician and gynecologist who heads the family planning agency, has estimated that there could be 370,000 to 500,000 extra births early next year, in a country that typically sees about 4.8 million a year.

That would be a setback for Indonesia’s extensive efforts to promote smaller families, a key aspect of its fight against child malnutrition.