Women with disabilities face some problems with pregnancy and delivery that are related to their disabilities, but with knowledgeable health care providers, most are able to give birth to healthy babies.
In national studies, women with disabilities have reported negative experiences with pregnancy and childbirth because they had difficulty finding health care providers and hospitals that had experience managing pregnancy and childbirth in women with disabilities. This lack of experience has been particularly true for disabilities that are uncommon in women, such as spinal cord injury.
However, many women with mobility impairments have successful pregnancies and happy babies! Here we have taken each trimester of pregnancy, along with labor and delivery, and given you an overview of topics to consider and to discuss with your doctor. Each trimester of pregnancy requires a fresh review of issues and needs. Changes occur within each trimester of pregnancy and your health as well as the ways you manage your disability and related conditions may be effected.