The experiences, attitudes and knowledge of medical personnel towards women with intellectual disabilities being mothers
Abstract
The aim of the study was to analyse experiences, attitudes and knowledge of Czech medical personnel towards women with intellectual disabilities being pregnant and/or mothers. There were 175 medical personnel who completed a survey.
The statistical analysis was conducted in a statistical program SPSS21. The data was analysed using the factor analysis approach.
The majority of respondents were medical personnel with decades of practice in their fields, however with minimal experiences with women with intellectual disabilities who are pregnant and/or mothers. The respondents had a relatively low level of knowledge about services available to these women.
The participating medical personnel identified the diverse needs of women with intellectual disabilities during antenatal period, childbirth and in a postnatal period, however they also believed that these needs are not addressed accordingly. The majority of participants believed that women with intellectual disabilities can be successful mothers and should be allowed to have children in their custody.
However more than half of the medical personnel admitted the possibility of abortion, and two thirds of the would not allow women with intellectual disabilities to make a decision about how many children they wish to have.