Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...

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take realistic and informed decisions about family planning, or may
fail initially to recognise their pregnancy. Failing to recognise their
pregnancy also emerged as an issue for some of the women with
cognitive impairment <strong>Literature</strong> <strong>Review</strong> in Burgen’s on Provision research of Appropriate (2008) carried and out Accessible in Australia
(discussed below). Support McGaw to People & with Sturmey an Intellectual (1993) observed Disability that who the are quality of
women’s antenatal Experiencing care Crisis often Pregnancy jeopardised by their late presentation to
services and poor attendance at services.
4.4.4 Attitudes to pregnancy and parenthood
Women with intellectual disability have commonly experienced negative
attitudes with regard to their sexual selves, to their forming friendships
and romantic relationships and to their enjoying the same sexual
freedom as their peers (Ferguson and Ferguson, 1996; Aunos and
Feldman, 2002). Parents and other carers often have deep concerns
about the emerging sexuality of girls and young women. These concerns
focus on vulnerability to sexual abuse and fears of pregnancy (Heyman
& Huckle, 1995). Llewellyn (1994) reported that announcement of
pregnancy was often met with disbelief and dismay amongst family,
friends, and the community more broadly. Such reactions can send
a signal to a woman with intellectual disability about attitudes to her
capacity to take on the role of mother and carer.
Booth and Booth (1995) similarly observed that becoming pregnant
was seen as a mistake never to be repeated rather than an event to be
celebrated. More recently, Mayes et al. (2006) also found that women
labelled with intellectual disability encounter significant opposition
to their child-bearing. This opposition may take the form of pressure
to have an abortion (Booth and Booth, 1995) and the opposition may
continue after child birth through not being allowed to take their baby
home from hospital (IASSID Special Interest Research Group, 2008 [85]).
In essence, Brown (1996) argues that negative attitudes about women
with intellectual disabilities having children are still evident in the
community and in professional practice, and these attitudes continue
85 The International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities
(IASSID) Special Interest Research Group (SIRG) on Parents and Parenting with
Intellectual Disabilities includes scholars from a number of countries including
the United States, Canada, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden,
Denmark, Iceland, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.