Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...

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McCarthy (1999: 221), who carried out research with women with
learning disabilities in England, notes that the reliance on low/no
maintenance methods, such as those described above (Chamberlain et
al., 1984), assumes that women with learning disabilities are incapable
or unreliable when it comes to managing their own fertility. She suggests
that as new forms of slow-release, long-acting contraception (such as
implants) come onto the market one could expect these to be over-used
as well (McCarthy and Thompson, 1998). It has also been argued that
the use of long-lasting contraception like Depot Medroxyprogesterone
Acetate reveals pressures to discourage the fertility of certain groups
of women (Williams, 1992). IUDs are not generally the contraception
of choice of younger women without learning disabilities, yet they are
frequently used for women with learning disabilities (Chamberlain et al.,
1984; Elkins et al., 1994).
Support to People with an Intellectual Disability who are
Accessible
and Appropriate of Provision on <strong>Review</strong> <strong>Literature</strong>
Experiencing Crisis Pregnancy
McCarthy (1999:222) notes that the use of condoms is mentioned
widely in the literature but this is almost exclusively in relation to
HIV prevention. Use of the diaphragm: is almost entirely overlooked.
McCarthy (1999) acknowledges the possible difficulties for a woman
with learning disabilities in using a diaphragm: learning how to insert
it properly, having to touch her genitals, inserting and removing it at
the right times. The hurried nature of much of the sexual activity the
women in her study reported to her would suggest that diaphragms
would be impractical, as would the female condom for the same reasons
(McCarthy, 1999: 223).
2.3.2 Factors influencing contraception usage
Research has shown that the living environment of women with
intellectual disability is a determining factor in their use of contraception
and the type of contraception used. Servais et al.’s (2002) populationbased
study involved a survey of 397 women with intellectual disability
aged between 18 and 46 attending government-funded facilities in
Brussels and the province of Walloon Brabant in Belgium. [13] Of these
women, over 40 per cent did not use any contraceptive method, 22 per
cent were sterilised, 18 per cent used an oral contraceptive agent, and
13 Findings from the survey indicated that 7% of the women were having or
previously had had consenting sexual intercourse; 51% were not sexually active,
and this information was not known for 41% of the women.