Barriers to providing maternity care to women with physical disabilities: Perspectives from health care practitioners.
Monika Mitra, Lauren D Smith, Suzanne C Smeltzer and 3 others
PMID 28089188WHAT IT FOUND
Experienced maternity care providers described barriers to caring for women with physical disabilities: insufficient training, inaccessible equipment, short appointments, poor reimbursement, and missing evidence or guidelines.
These are perceptions from 14 practitioners, not tested outcomes.
Key findings
01Fourteen maternity care practitioners described barriers grouped into four levels: practitioner, clinical practice, system, and lack of scientific evidence.
02Participants reported inaccessible facilities and equipment and lack of office staff training as clinical practice barriers.
03Most participants said perinatal care guidelines for women with physical disabilities would be helpful, though few were aware of existing guidelines.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The 14 practitioners were recruited through disability-related organizations, publications, professional profiles, and referrals, so providers without those connections may be missing. Participants were selected for experience caring for women with physical disabilities, so their views may not reflect less experienced maternity providers. Findings are self-reported perceptions and were not confirmed by observation or by asking participants whether the summary accurately portrayed their experience. The study was descriptive and exploratory; it did not measure patient outcomes or test interventions.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof of what maternity care providers do or as evidence that any intervention works. They are perceptions from 14 practitioners selected for disability experience, so they may not represent all providers.