Consequences of Natural Disaster on Women's Reproductive Health: A Systematic Review

Background and Purpose: Disaster is a crisis situation where damage is widespread and far beyond our ability to recover. All individuals or communities are not affected equally by natural disasters. The human impact of natural disasters depends on economic, cultural, social, and physical status of an individual. Women are the most vulnerable group to any kind of natural disaster related impacts. There is limited on the holistic effects of natural disasters on women’s sexual and reproductive health. The objective of this comprehensive study was to explore the current state of literature in the area of the consequences of natural disasters on women’s sexual and reproductive health and well-being. 

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted in the study. Studies on natural disasters and their effects on women’s reproductive health were identified using a set of keywords based on two main themes: (1) different natural disasters - AB (natural disaster* OR disaster* OR earthquake* OR flood* OR tsunami* OR hurricane* OR cyclone) and (2) reproductive health - AB (Reproductive health* OR sexual health* OR pregnancy* OR maternal health* OR maternal mortality* OR women's health* OR birth outcomes* OR contraceptive* OR antenatal care* OR fetal mortality* OR abortion* OR gestation* OR unplanned pregnancy). Several electronic databases including Academic search complete; alt healthWatch; MEDLINE; CINAHL Complete; Psychology and behavioral sciences collection; PsycINFO; PUBMED, Social Services Abstracts; ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database; and Social Work Abstracts were included for full review of peer-reviewed articles. Total 300 studies were included for full text screening, and finally 30 empirical studies were selected for assessing the findings of the study due to their relevance to subject area and comparative fit with the purpose of this study.

Findings: Studied natural disasters were hurricanes (in USA - 2005 Katrina, 2008 Ike, 1992 Andrew, 1989 Hugo, 2004 Charley, and 2004 Jeanne); earthquakes (1999 Taiwan Earthquake, 2005 Tarapaca earthquake, 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, 2007 Peninsula earthquake, 2008 Sichuan earthquake, 2009 Sumatra earthquake, 2010 Haiti earthquake, and 2011 the Great East Japan earthquake); and floods and storms (2011 Network Queensland flood, 2011 Thailand flood, 1997 and 2009 North Dakota Red River flood, and 2008 Iowa flood, and 1998 Canadian ice storms). Natural disasters affect women’s reproductive health in many ways. Identified empirical studies provided strong evidence that hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and storms caused negative effects on family development, sexual behavior, accessing to reproductive health services, contraceptive use, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, maternal mental health, and birth outcomes. Studies also showed that aftermath of natural disasters devastated the maternal physical and mental health along with their child health.

Conclusion and Implications: Findings enlighten the knowledge regarding inclemency of different natural disasters on women’s health around the world and highlight the importance of taking responses that will take women’s sexual and reproductive needs into account. Based on pregnant and postpartum mothers’ need, appropriate pre-disaster, post-disaster, and prolonged services and education is suggested to avoid or ameliorate the impact of natural disasters.