Pregnancy, childbirth, early motherhood project

In November 2007 NDA commissioned research, in a joint initiative with the National Women’s Council of Ireland, to explore the strengths and weaknesses of publicly funded Irish health services provided to women with disabilities in relation to pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood. The research, funded by NDA, was carried out by a team of researchers from the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Trinity College Dublin.

The first report from this project, Women with Disabilities: Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing Services during Pregnancy, Childbirth and Early Motherhood, is a review of literature, both national and international, identifying the challenges that women with disabilities face in accessing health services during pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood. The report also documents factors, identified in the literature, which facilitate access to these health services for women with disabilities.

The second report from the project, Women with Disabilities: Policies governing Procedure and Practice in Service Provision in Ireland during Pregnancy, Childbirth and Early Motherhood, is a review of policy governing maternity service provision for women with disabilities in Ireland and in 9 other jurisdictions. The report also contains the findings from a survey conducted with all 19 publicly-funded maternity hospitals/units in Ireland to identify the existence of policies in these facilities.

The third report from the project, The Strengths and Weaknesses of Publicly-funded Irish Health Services Provided to Women with Disabilities in Relation to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Early Motherhood, is a detailed exploration of women's views and experiences of the services they received during pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood. The report also sets out findings of focus group discussions with service providers and professionals in the field. The report complements the 2 companion documents which form the first 2 parts of the study.

You can read the research reports online, or download different versions below.

Available Formats

Page last updated: 06/30/2010