Autism and Pregnancy

[Karen Henry]

Hi, I am a student midwife from the University of Suffolk and have written an article for the ARM magazine about how the maternity service can support women with autism plus,I created a communication took to aid discussions between women with autism and professionals involved in their care which will be available to download in December. I would love to hear any feedback and will happily answer any questions.

[Lisa-Marie]

Here is Karen’s Pregnancy Passport as mentioned in Midwifery Matters 155 Winter 2017.

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[Kirstie Wood]

I notice this thread is many years old but there are some thoughts I’d like to add.
– Autism is hereditary.
– Women are often formally diagnosed late in life, if at all. Currently the adult wait for diagnosis is 24 month in my area!
– It often takes the woman’s child’s diagnosis for her to realise that she has been going through the same experiences as her child for decades.
– Hypermobilty is common with Autism, as is ADHD and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. If the latter then the woman would not only have difficulty communicating pain but may very well have lack of pain relief as local anaesthetic resistance is also not unusual.
– Sensory processing disorder is also common.

There are reasons I’m posting this as so much store is taken in post natal mental health, that the woman’s normal life challenges due to Autism/ADHD and EDS are misunderstood and used against her in a derogatory manner.

Autistic people are often very intelligent and very much bullied because they are not understood and rather making the effort to understand them (which is actually a health professionals duty) they are instead judged. There is a huge lack of compassion and empathy afforded to Autistic people. That in itself causes both mental trauma and anxiety, which there is no excuse for.

[Karen Henry]

Hi Kitstie, I can see you are passionate about this subject too. Since I’ve been qualified i have been working on a specific pathway for women with autism in my trust where women will have continuity of midwife, appointments individualised and the hospital passport I created had been updated and is currently being printed.

Are you a midwife? Do you have personal experience of autism? I would love to hear any women’s experiences of their maternity care positive and negative as the pathway is ever evolving. My email address is karenhenry10@sky.com

Have you heard of the national autistic society they are currently campaigning to decrease the waiting times for adults to be assessed and diagnosed. They are asking for people to email their MP with concerns.

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