Briana “Bri” Allessi is one of them. “We are waiting on conceiving this year because of COVID,” says Allessi, 34, of Dekalb, Illinois. “I am immune compromised and have had rough pregnancies anyway, so we don’t want or need any extra problems.” Allessi, along with her husband, Daniel Allessi, have three children (Ashlynn, 6; Caiden, 4; and Everleigh, 8 months), and had wanted a fourth. Allessi, who lives with type 1 diabetes, arthritis, hypothyroidism, and hidradenitis suppurativa, a skin disorder, said her prior pregnancies were already challenging before the coronavirus pandemic arrived. “We just don’t need any other problems with me becoming pregnant right now,” she said. While pregnant, her blood sugar levels dropped quickly, causing multiple seizures. She also developed hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) with each pregnancy, which caused her to vomit more than 20 times each day and required several emergency room visits. “Between HG and all my other illnesses, along with COVID, we decided it was safer to wait another year before conceiving again.” The wait would help bring a potential COVID-19 vaccine closer, but would also yield more information about the disease and childbearing. “We are going to wait until next year until there is an established protocol for someone with the illness,” she said. RELATED: COVID-19 and Abortion Access: Politics and the Pandemic

COVID-19 Fears About Conceiving Are Prevalent

The novel coronavirus is in its early days, and still isn’t well understood — just one reason people are putting off pregnancy. Concern over finances also plays a role. An Italian study published online by the medical journal Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology in May 2020 found that 82 percent of 1,482 people surveyed in online interviews said they did not want to try to conceive during the pandemic, which hit Italy in February, caused hundreds of deaths daily, and peaked in late March, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Of the remaining 18 percent who had wanted to try to conceive, more than a third of them “abandoned the intention, related to worries of future economic difficulties and consequences on pregnancy,” the researchers wrote. Modern Fertility, a United States–based manufacturer of fertility tests for women ages 20 to 45, issued its 2020 Modern State of Fertility report in April, with a focus on the impact of COVID-19. Of the 406 respondents in March, when the novel coronavirus outbreak was ramping up in North America (per WHO), 61 percent said they were “more worried and anxious about having kids and family planning right now,” and 31 percent said “COVID-19 has changed their fertility or family planning decisions entirely.” The COVID-19 concerns included fears about access to prenatal care, financial reasons, worries about contracting COVID-19 itself, and fears of a partner contracting the disease. A fifth of the respondents said they were delaying kids because their fertility clinic had stopped treatment because of the coronavirus. Additionally, a new report published in mid-June from the Brookings Institute, a nonprofit public policy organization, predicted there will be 300,000 to 500,000 fewer births in the United States in 2021, with potentially higher numbers in years to come if the pandemic or job losses continue beyond 2020. RELATED: How to Have Safe Sex During a Pandemic

Pregnancy Fears Amongst BIPOC and LGBTQ People

The pandemic has also revealed differences in how women are considering pregnancy that are based on racial and sexual orientation differences. In a new study published this month by the Guttmacher Institute, researchers found that 44 percent of Black and 48 percent of Hispanic women said they wanted to postpone pregnancy or have smaller families because of the coronavirus, compared with 28 percent of white women who felt the same way. Almost half (48 percent) of queer women (those identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual or “other” sexual orientation) wanted to get pregnant later or wanted fewer children than before the pandemic, compared with 33 percent of straight women.

How Financial Fears Are Holding Back Family Expansion Amid COVID-19

Financial fears are well founded. According to statistics reported by the U.S. Department of Labor in an article published May 9 in the Washington Post, women have experienced more of the job layoffs and furloughs caused by the pandemic, with 20.5 million people losing their jobs in March and April, corresponding to a 14.7 percent unemployment rate for April. Many of these positions were held by women, such as servers in restaurants, day-care workers, hairstylists, hotel cleaners, and dental hygienists, the Washington Post reported. Childcare remains a concern, per the Washington Post. With most schools and childcare centers closed, and few reopening to their pre-pandemic capacity, caring for children while working outside the home remains difficult if not impossible, and stressful, for many people, adding to reluctance to become pregnant at this time. RELATED: Expert Tips for Coping With COVID-19 at Home

What Experts Want You to Know About Pregnancy Care During a Pandemic

Physicians are offering what advice they can in light of limited information. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) website counsels women who are considering getting pregnant during the pandemic that it is a personal choice to do so, based on their own health, the potential risk of COVID-19, and other factors. It’s also a good idea to find out from your ob-gyn or other healthcare professionals how the pandemic could change pregnancy medical visits and delivery; for example, will more be done via telemedicine or will there be limits to who can accompany you in the delivery room, ACOG states. “Current reports show that pregnant women do not have more severe symptoms than the general public,” the ACOG website noted. “But people with some health conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, lung disease, or heart disease, have a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19.” According to ACOG and current research, it is not likely that COVID-19 passes to a fetus during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. But more research is needed on this. After birth, a newborn can get the virus if they are exposed to it. RELATED: Pregnancy and Coronavirus: What Are the Risks?

For people who don’t want to get pregnant, contraception is crucial. “The COVID-19 pandemic has upended realities and shifted priorities for people around the world,” said Gillian Dean, MD, the senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “With all the uncertainty, it is unsurprising that findings show many people are making the decision to postpone getting pregnant. The organization remains committed to providing patients with birth control and abortion services through telehealth and in person as women make decisions about family planning during the pandemic.” RELATED: Birth Control in America: A Brief History of Contraception

A Birth Control Boom?

Carrie SiuButt, the CEO of SimpleHealth, a virtual contraception service, said that online birth control providers have seen an explosion in new patients this year. SimpleHealth has served hundreds of thousands of patients since its inception in 2018, and “has seen a massive influx in new patients — more than doubling our patient base since February 2020,” she said. The company has seen an uptick in use of the long-acting birth control Annovera, a reusable vaginal ring that women insert for 21 days and remove for seven days, repeating the pattern for up to a year. This long-acting reversible contraception, or LARC, doesn’t require an office visit, and women insert and remove the ring themselves. “Patients like this method because it’s low maintenance, which makes sense during a time when you want birth control to be the last thing you worry about,” said SiuButt. SimpleHealth has also seen about 20 percent of its eligible patients request the emergency contraception Ella, which can be used to prevent conception immediately after intercourse. No matter what method women are using to avoid pregnancy during this time, they are making the choices they feel are right for them. “We are okay with our decision to wait for a fourth, but I am a little sad about it,” said Allessi. “We always wanted our kids closer together. I don’t love being pregnant because of having had such rough pregnancies, so I was looking forward to getting that part over with and being able to enjoy spending time with my kids. But healthwise, we just don’t feel it is smart to get pregnant this year.” RELATED: Why You Shouldn’t Miss Your Ob-Gyn Wellness Visit Because of the Pandemic