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The lockdown that was deployed in Wuhan, China to combat the COVID-19 pandemic curbed the infection but also created great information challenges for people in social isolation. This resulted in surge in online health information seeking (OHIS) behaviors of the patients and their families. While the Internet has been widely used by Chinese public to access and search health information, there is relatively little research in the context of pandemic outbreaks, especially at the onset of a strong lockdown while many people were panicking. From a total of 10 908 '#COVID-19 Patient Seeking Help' posts on Weibo in a period of 20 days when the lockdown policy was first initiated, we identified 1496 unique patients living in or with family in Wuhan, China. Using textual analysis, we explored OHIS behaviors at the onset of the pandemic. Many faced increased difficulties accessing offline healthcare services and such turned to social media for help and information. In particular, the findings highlight the following themes: ' OHIS for medical treatment ', ' OHIS to manage self-quarantine ', ' OHIS for tangible support ' and ' OHIS to navigate information discrepancy '. Overall, our findings provide important insights into health information seeking behaviors and the role of social media during a pandemic. Our findings also highlight the importance of considering people's information need and challenges created due to the lockdown policies in the future pandemic communication and preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's family planning policy has historically silenced the voices of women, especially unwed single mothers at the expense of their reproductive health and overall wellbeing. Further, reproductive decisions in China are closely intertwined with marriage decisions and intergenerational dynamics, highlighting the relevance of gender in women's reproductive health experiences. Chinese unwed single mothers are in particular penalized for violating the gendered social norms supported by the national reproductive policies. Drawing on previous work that calls on the need to explore gender system and its influence on health, this manuscript explores the ways in which gender norms are played out for the unwed single mothers within romantic and intergenerational relations, with impacts on their reproductive health and decision‐making. The findings show that reproductive decisions are interwoven with the fulfilment of other gendered identities, such as daughter, daughter‐in‐law and wife. Although the decision to go through unwed motherhood is reflective of their agency, the tie between childbirth and marriage does not allow the women to entirely break free from the social system. The findings also highlight the importance of considering the role of gender system that is played out within social relations, which in turn impacts the health of the women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voice of Chinese unwed single mothers remains unheard in public discourse in China. Since 2001, the government has enforced punishment and penalties on childbirth out of wedlock. Isolated socially offline, many turn to parenting forums as a source for social support. This study examined the role of online social support in the social and well-being of unwed single mothers in China. In particular, the largest online parenting forum that caters to unwed single mother was examined. After filtering out causal talks and other unrelated conversations, 578 initial unwed motherhood related post was narrowed to a total of 76 threads (which included 4892 messages). Findings reveal that all three types of social support: information, emotion, and tangible support were present and exchanged among the members of the discussion board. The findings highlight a positive impact of online social support on the overall wellbeing of this group. The presence and exchange of social support not only enhanced self-esteem and promoted individual empowerment, but also raised group consciousness and created a bond and a sense of belonging to an online community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]