SCI and pregnancy-study

[betheny]

From Center for Research on Women w/ Disabilities...National study of women with physical disabilities...Pregnancy


"Special concerns during pregnancy vary for women with different types of disabilities. We know from this study that women with disabilities are less likely to become pregnant than women in general; therefore, it is difficult to find enough women with a particular type of disability to participate in a survey, even one as large as this, so that we can draw valid conclusions. We chose to examine the pregnancy experiences of the 120 women with spinal cord injury who participated in this study because it was the largest subgroup in the sample.

Few clinicians are informed about the pregnancy outcomes of women with spinal cord injury (SCI). Yet the majority of women who acquire a SCI are of childbearing age. Recent ten-year hospital studies indicate an increasing number of births among women with traumatic spinal cord injury. However, few clinicians have experience managing pregnancy, labor, and delivery in women with SCI. Therefore, clinical guidelines for this population are often based on case reports or small case series, which tend to report the most unusual and serious problems rather than uncomplicated cases. Unfounded assumptions of poor outcomes may influence clinicians to behave as though risks are greater than they actually are for most women with SCI and practice defensive medicine. If the chance for a positive pregnancy outcome is considered slim, or threat to the mother's life too high, clinicians may encourage women who want to have their babies to have unnecessary or undesired therapeutic abortions.

In these analyses, we examined whether women with SCI are at higher risk of specific pregnancy-related complications than are women without disabilities.


RESULTS

Thirty-seven percent of the women with disabilities had natural children compared to half of the able-bodied comparison group. No significant difference was found between the groups in the rate of miscarriages, abortions, or stillbirths...."

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The results of this study address the issues women with spinal cord injuries confront, both real and perceived. It includes issues which physicians and patients need to address during pregnancy.

For entire article including study results, please click


Here

C5/6 incomplete, injured Aug. 2000

[KiranA]

Thanks for posting this Betheney
If you come across more info, please post!

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." - Oscar Wilde

[Liz321]

interesting articlein newmobility magazine this month too