Dr. Lesley A. Tarasoff is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Health and Society at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She is a leading scholar on the perinatal health of women with disabilities; Dr. Tarasoff is a co-author of the first known clinical practice guidelines on labour, delivery, and postpartum care for people with physical disabilities (see Berndl et al., 2021, JOGC) and of several systematic reviews and studies on the perinatal health outcomes and care experiences of women with disabilities in Canada. Primarily drawing on qualitative methodologies, her broader program of research aims to understand and address disparities and inequities in reproductive, perinatal, and mental health and health care experienced by often-stigmatized and marginalized groups, namely women with disabilities and sexual minority women. She holds a PhD in Public Health Sciences, with a Specialization in Women’s Health, from the University of Toronto. She is an advocate of midwifery care and even more so after the birth of her son in 2021.
Women with physical, sensory, and intellectual/developmental disabilities experience significant social, health, and health care disparities. Recent data show that their pregnancy rates are increasing. However, little is known about the perinatal health outcomes and care experiences of women with disabilities. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of research concerning the perinatal health outcomes and care experiences of women with disabilities, specifically highlighting findings from a National Institutes of Health-funded study conducted in Ontario, Canada.
From population-based health records data, we found that women with disabilities experience higher rates of perinatal health complications than women without disabilities. From interviews with women with disabilities and health and social service providers, including midwives, we identified barriers to optimal perinatal care for women with disabilities, including failures to meet accessibility and communication needs, with particular gaps in care identified in the postpartum period. This presentation will conclude with a discussion of implications for midwifery practice, identifying ways in which the midwifery model of care may best address the challenges experienced by women with disabilities during pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum period; these include longer appointment times, the ongoing process of informed consent, home visits, and extended support in the postpartum period.
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