Pregnancy Challenges for Moms with Physical Disabilities

posted on Jun 20 by Amanda in the Cerebral Palsy, Disability News, Health, Healthcare, Multiple Sclerosis, Spinal Cord Injury category

For women with physical disabilities like multiple sclerosis, pregnancy can present certain challenges. A recent report in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology studied these unique challenges to expectant mothers with physical disabilities like MS, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, arthritis and other conditions. For women with disabilities, there can be complications in pregnancy like lower birth weights due to preterm labor. Often, women with physical disabilities deliver by cesarean section, which presents its own complications. Women with disabilities might also suffer complications during and after pregnancy such as urinary tract infections, stress, postpartum depression, decreased mobility or flare-ups of their conditions.

Dianna Fiore Radoslovich, a mother with MS, was interviewed by the Associated Press about her experience of pregnancy. “Every pregnancy’s different, and MS is different every day for everybody,” she told the reporter. Radoslovich wanted to share her experience with other women, stating “I feel like, if you can do it, so can I.” Women with physical disabilities can learn more about issues with pregnancy in the eBook “The Disabled Woman’s Guide to Pregnancy and Birth” by Judith Rogers, which states that it’s important for pregnant women with disabilities understand the difference between pregnancy-related problems and disability-related problems so they can speak with their doctors.

In a meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Dr. Caroline Signore, who wrote the report on pregnancy and disability, described pregnant women with physical disabilities as an “invisible population” and urged doctors to create a comprehensive study of this population in order better understand the interplay of disability and pregnancy. The Baylor College of Medicine agrees that some doctors’ lack of knowledge may lead to negative expectations.

Often, problems for pregnant women with disabilities begin on their first doctor visit. Signore, who uses a wheelchair after a spinal cord injury, also said that accessibility in doctor’s offices is a challenge for pregnant women with disabilities. Signore urged doctors to improve accessibility to offices as well as installing equipment like lowered exam tables and scales for weighing patients in wheelchairs.

Sources:

http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/13288352/article-Physical-disabilities-add-challenge-to-pregnancy

http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Abstract/2011/04000/Pregnancy_in_Women_With_Physical_Disabilities.26.aspx

http://www.friendswithms.com/Rogers03.pdf

http://www.bcm.edu/crowd/?pmid=1448