Doctors believe unplanned pregnancies could rise if women struggle to access contraception services during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) has set out guidance on changes needed to help women avoid unplanned pregnancies and get the care they need.

The FSRH recommends consultations for emergency contraception take place via telephone or video, as can repeat contraception prescriptions and counselling for intrauterine contraceptives and contraceptive implants.

Long-acting reversible contraception can be extended with "minimal loss of efficacy", it says.

And it is calling for online contraception services to be extended across the UK.

Dr Anne Lashford, FSRH vice president, said: "Doctors, nurses and other clinicians working in sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) services are being redeployed to work in the national response to the outbreak. This comes at a time when SRH services were already operating beyond capacity.

"It is crucial that we ensure women of all ages can continue to access effective contraception during the crisis, avoiding unplanned pregnancies which will likely lead to added strain on both maternity and abortion services."

She added: "Women need to be provided with clear information about where and how to access available services."

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Other organisations have called for abortion restrictions to be relaxed so that women can access care at home, without needing to leave and risk exposing themselves to Covid-19.

A spokeswoman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service said: "At the moment we simply don't know how the pandemic will play out on conception rates - this protracted period of time at home is very different to short power cuts which lead to the apocryphal Blackout Babies, and intense time together is as likely to lead to frustration and irritation as much as intimacy and romance.

"The situation may also prove extremely dangerous to women in already coercive and abusive relationships already suffering intimate partner violence.

"What we do know is that women may have a harder time accessing their regular contraception, and we would like to see restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception lifted to ensure women can access this as swiftly as possible. "

She added: "We are currently calling on the Government to ease restrictions on abortion so women who need early care can access this safely at home, eliminating needless trips to clinics which may put their health at risk.

"Our concern is that without this women may resort to illegal methods or be compelled to carry unwanted pregnancies to term."

It comes as researchers from the University of Manchester, University of Bristol and Harvard University warned that accessing abortion will be difficult for women if they are self-isolating.

They are calling for women to be allowed to take abortion tablets at home – a move that was announced in error yesterday by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) before being retracted.

The National: Condoms

They say isolation sex and difficulty accessing condoms could lead to more unwanted pregnancies, with around 44,000 women expected to need abortions over the next 12 weeks.

Dr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Gill Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said inaction on the issue was "reckless".

"We are disappointed by the Government's decision not to allow home-use of mifepristone, the first drug used for early medical abortion," they said in a statement.

"This change in practice which the Government announced and later revoked would have enabled women to access care remotely through video and teleconference, with treatment sent by post.

"This would have reduced pressure on an already overwhelmed health system, limited risk of coronavirus infection for women, their families and healthcare professionals while ensuring safe and timely access to abortion care.

"Inaction is reckless and risks the health and wellbeing of women and frontline NHS workers.

"Abortion services take the safeguarding of women seriously, and if this care cannot be provided, women may be forced to seek an unregulated and illegal abortion."