From Administration for Community Living and Department of Health and Human Services, March 2021
Persistent maternal health disparities related to race, ethnicity, and income have garnered recent national policy attention. A growing body of research examining women with disabilities' experiences with reproductive health reveals that disparities also exist between women with and without disabilities. The purpose of this brief is to summarize findings about reproductive education, experiences, and outcomes among women with longterm disability from research funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
This brief considers the accessibility of motherhood for women with disabilities and related outcomes within the social model of disability over the life course. This model views the experience of disability as created by an interaction between person and environment in which attitudinal, community, physical, policy, programmatic, social, and transportation barriers limit the full participation of people with disabilities. The social model contrasts with models that frame the body of a person with a disability as something to "fix." Identifying and removing barriers can improve health outcomes, including maternal health outcomes for women with disabilities.
The brief focuses on research funded by NIDILRR and NICHD only. It does not represent the comprehensive list of published research in this area. A central theme across the literature on pregnancy and women with disabilities is that many gaps exist in relevant consumer education, clinician training, research, and appropriate interventions.
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