Do women with intellectual disabilities experience poorer pregnancy and birth outcomes compared with their non-disabled peers?
This study in set out to explore the prevalence of poor pregnancy and birth outcomes in women with intellectual disabilities, and those who reported themselves as having learning difficulties in an antenatal population. 878 pregnant women attending their first antenatal clinic visit were ‘screened’ for intellectual disabilities by identifying for example where the women had previously been labelled as having an intellectual disability by social services. Women also were asked ‘screening’ questions such as ‘Do you think you have learning difficulties?’ and ‘Do you think you are a slow learner?’ A total of 57 pregnant women with intellectual disabilities and/or self-reported learning difficulties were identified. They experienced an unusually high rate of pre-eclampsia, their children more often had low birthweights and they were more frequently admitted to neonatal intensive care or special care nursery. The authors suggest their findings show that the odds of pre-eclampsia, low birthwe
