Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...

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relationships, marriage, and having and raising children (Brantlinger,
1988, cited in McGaw & Sturmey, 1993).
McConnell, Mayes and Llewellyn (2008) contend that the number of
women with intellectual disability now having children is thought to be
increasing, citing evidence from Anderson, Byun, Larson and Lakin (2005)
and Tarleton, Ward and Howarth (2006) (see also Pixa-Kettner, 2008). In
England, the most recent figures come from the first national survey of
adults with learning difficulties, which found that one in 15 of the 2,898
adults interviewed had children (Emerson, Malam, Davies and Spencer,
2005). McCabe and Cummins (1996) found a rate of 61 per cent in a small
sample of Australian women living in the community (n=30). Meanwhile,
Servais (2006) contends that pregnancy in general - whether planned
or unplanned - is seemingly uncommon in women with intellectual
disability, although he acknowledges that data on this is scarce. Servais
(2006) argues that several factors make it difficult to assess pregnancy
rates in this population; these factors include cultural differences in
reproductive rights of individuals with intellectual disability, classification
of pregnancy (for example, is pregnancy counted if terminated) and living
environment (Servais, 2006). Studies of mothers with learning disabilities
have shown that as few as 25 per cent of pregnancies are planned
(McGaw, 1997). [80]
Support to People with an Intellectual Disability who are
Accessible
and Appropriate of Provision on <strong>Review</strong> <strong>Literature</strong>
Experiencing Crisis Pregnancy
Much of the literature on this topic focuses on the prevention of
pregnancy and contraceptive management (Conod & Servais, 2008;
Elkins et al., 1986; Grimes, 1997). Meanwhile, there is a growing body of
literature, particularly from Australia and the UK, which focuses on the
parenting experiences of women with intellectual disability and supports
necessary to assist them in this role. This literature will be discussed in
Section 5.0 on Parenting.
Research from the early 1990s to the present has focused on the sociocultural-historical
and environmental factors influencing women with
intellectual disability’s experiences as mothers and the significant
challenges they face. It has been argued that this is not surprising, given
80 Unfortunately, McGaw (1997) does not cite references for this statement in her
article.