On January 5, the hashtag “Doctor Recommends Couples to Wait Three Months to Get Pregnant after Recovering from Covid” (#医生建议夫妻阳康后等仨月再备孕#) went trending on Weibo, attracting over 16 million views within a day. In late December, a similar hashtag (#医生建议新冠愈后3个月再备孕#) also received over two million clicks on Weibo.
This time, the advice was issued by Doctor Xu Yajuan (徐雅娟), Director of Obstretics at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, where they recently saw an increase in patients getting medical advice about conceiving after Covid.
Doctor Xu advises couples to wait for three months before conceiving due to the effects Covid has on the human body. In an interview published by the Henan media channel Dacankao (大参考, Great Reference) on Weibo, Xu also suggests that Covid might affect semen quality and that it weakens health in general.
According to Xu’s advice, couples should first work on strengthening their immune system, eating high-protein foods and getting enough vitamins, and gradually start exercising after recovering from Covid.
The doctor’s advise and related hashtag were shared by many Chinese media outlets on Weibo, raising some discussions on Chinese social media, where many worried that three months was a long time to wait.
“After three months, I’ll have Covid again, and then we have to wait another three months,” one commenter wrote, with others also fearing that China will see its next wave three months later.
“I was just talking about this with a colleague a few days ago,” one Weibo blogger wrote: “Nine months from now, the birth rates are going to hit an all-time low.”
Due to multiple factors, including the shrinking size of China’s marriageable population, the number of couples that registered for marriage already hit a historic low in China in 2022. In 2021, China’s birth rates hit a record low after plummeting for five consecutive years despite the fact couple have been allowed to have more than one child for years.
Considering the trend in birth declines of the past years, the current Covid outbreak, and the aforementioned advice by Chinese doctors, the birth rates of 2023/2024 might continue to plummet.
Meanwhile, some commenters also express criticism at experts who previously compared Covid to the flu or a cold. This kind of criticism pops up more often in online discussions on China’s Covid situation.
“While we’re all worrying about our own lives, you’re worrying about whether or not women can reproduce,” one person replied.
The doctor’s advice that went trending on Chinese social media is in line with recent studies which have found that getting Covid-19 could impact fertility or semen quality for weeks after recovery.
“Just don’t have a baby at all,” one commenter suggested: “After we’d give birth we’ll see one epidemic wave after the other and you’d just have one more thing to worry about.”
Another person agrees, writing: “I’m glad I’m not married and not preparing to conceive. Life is hard enough as it is already.”
By Manya Koetse, with contributions by Miranda Barnes
Featured image via: https://weibo.com/azooms
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