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Publicly released:
2024-08-16 01:00
People with intellectual disabilities or autism have higher risks of physical and mental health complications during and after pregnancy, according to a US study. The team compared the pregnancy and birth outcomes of over 55,000 people with intellectual disabilities and about 13,500 autistic people with nearly 440,000 people without any intellectual disabilities. They say those with an intellectual disability or autism were likely to be pregnant at a younger age, less likely to have a live birth and had higher risks of health complications including preeclampsia and high blood pressure in pregnancy. The rate of mental health conditions during and after pregnancy was much higher among the group with intellectual disabilities or autism, the researchers say, with autistic people specifically more likely to develop postpartum anxiety or depression. The team say this means those with intellectual disabilities may need tailored support during pregnancy and after childbirth.
Journal/conference: JAMA Network Open
Link to research (DOI): Paper
Organisation/s: Drexel University, USA
Funder: This research was supported by grant R01MH117653 from the National Institute of Mental
Health of the National Institutes of Health. This project was also supported by the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under cooperative agreements
UT6MC45902, Autism Transitions Research Project (ATRP), and UT2MC39440, Autism Intervention Research
Network on Physical Health (AIR-P). This study was supported in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award P50HD111142.
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