Poor social crotch distancing, closed schools raise teen pregnancy risks in Japan, hospital says

May 13, 2020 | News On Japan

May 13, 2020 (soranews24.com) - Hospitalâ€™s pregnancy consultation division receives its most queries from junior high and high school students ever.

One of the buzzwords to enter Japanese conversation over the past few weeks has been â€œcorona rikonâ€/â€corona divorce,â€ referring to spouses who realize theyâ€™re ready to end their marriage after spending too much time at home with their partner. But as the pandemic is driving some adult couples emotionally apart, it looks like itâ€™s also bringing young lovers together, at least in a physical sense.

Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, reports that itâ€™s been seeing an increase in the number of junior high and high school students contacting its pregnancy consultation department. The increase started in March, not long after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe requested that schools across the country shut down to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and has continued as educational facilities remain closed. During the month of April, Jikei Hospitalâ€™s pregnancy counselors dealt with more junior high/high school students than in any other month since the department was established in 2007.

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