“I Didn’t Need People’s Negative Thoughts”: Women With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Reporting Attitudes Toward Their Pregnancy

BackgroundSince the illegalization of involuntary sterilization of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, there has been an increase in childbearing in this population. However, women with intellectual and developmental disabilities continue to experience prejudicial attitudes toward their pregnancies.ObjectiveTo analyze the experiences of women with intellectual and developmental disabilities regarding their perceptions of support persons’ attitudes toward their pregnancies.MethodsThree case studies derived from grounded theory research exploring perinatal social support received by women with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Using inductive content analysis, we further analyzed the perceptions of women with intellectual and developmental disabilities regarding support persons’ attitudes toward their pregnancies.Findings: The nature of interactions with support persons and women’s characteristics, such as help-seeking behaviors, disability, mental illness, and age, influenc...