Supporting Autistic People Through Pregnancy And Childbirth

This comprehensive and accessible guide is for every birthing and health professional looking to improve their care during pregnancy, birth, and aftercare for autistic women. With a distinct lack of scientifically approached work in this area, this much-needed book takes an intersectional, feminist approach and covers the background of modern birth practices and autism as a diagnosis. With intersectionality as a core feature, the impact of cultural differences, underdiagnoses, stigma, and stereotypes amongst ethnic minorities is also included. It discusses how pain functions in the autistic brain as well as co-occurring conditions such as alexithymia, chronic pain, epilepsy, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. This multidisciplinary author team includes two well-established autism experts, and an experienced midwife and lecturer who provides invaluable birthing insight, as well as approaches for sensation management during birth, insider knowledge on midwifery protocols, and accessible tools for autistic pregnant people and families to use.

Understanding Autistic Relationship Across the Lifespan is an accessible overview of autistic relationships from the early years through to old age. This much-needed book combines the latest research findings with first-hand accounts to offer insight into the relationships of autistic people and how they differ to those of non-autistic people in a range of ways. Felicity Sedgewick and Sarah Douglas delve into life's stages and their challenges, revealing how navigating relationships can lead to misunderstandings, rejection, and trauma – but also to genuine connection, support, and joy. Illustrated throughout with extracts from interviews, and with extended narratives from Sarah, it explores key topics including relationships in the early years, childhood friendships, teenage friendships and romance, adult romantic and sexual relationships, LGBTQ+ relationships, finding community, family relationships, and issues in the later stages of life. The authors explore a wide range of emotions and life situations, examining the social world of autistic people and the strategies they use to navigate it. Understanding Autistic Relationship Across the Lifespan offers practical recommendations for both autistic and non-autistic people on how to have the healthiest and most satisfying relationships possible. It is essential reading for all those working with autistic people and studying autism, as well as autistic individuals and those close to them.

This pioneering guide provides birth professionals, pregnant people, and advocates with comprehensive insight into navigating conception, pregnancy, birth, and the perinatal period whilst fat. Drawing on the author's decade of experience as well as evidence-based research and case studies from people sharing their own perspectives and stories, this authoritative and compassionate book provides practical and effective advice on how to improve quality of care for fat parents. It covers a wide range of topics across the birth journey and beyond including interviews with a number of high-profile people including Nicola Salmon and Amber Marshall and empowers readers to feel reassured and confident in their choices and rights. This ground-breaking resource challenges the pervasive bias against fat service users in the birthing world and acts as a call to action to dismantle the fatphobic stigma present in our healthcare systems in order to create an environment that is inclusive of all bodies.

Our increased knowledge and appreciation of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) has been making headlines across medical research and practice. Stretched to the Limits is the first text to apply this new understanding directly to midwifery. The book details the effects of hEDS on the different bodily systems, and the implications for pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatally. Midwives and doulas are likely, at some point in their careers, to come across women with this most common sub-type. hEDS affects at least 1 in 5,000 women but they frequently find themselves on a care pathway more suitable for those with other, rarer, subtypes such as classic EDS (cEDS) or vascular EDS (vEDS). Additionally, much of the advice detailed here will also help to support the 20% of the population with more generalised hypermobility. This book is, therefore, essential reading for empowering midwives and doulas to feel confident in their understanding of hEDS, so that they can best inform and support their clients and colleagues with the most appropriate care. It will also provide a valuable resource for those with hEDS to share with their care team and advocate for their needs when planning pregnancy and birth.

Already the mother of five children, Lana Grant's late diagnosis of autism at age 38 transformed her experience of her sixth pregnancy. Based on her own experiences of the challenges and joys of pregnancy and motherhood, this witty, entertaining read provides insight into the unique challenges encountered by mothers on the spectrum and provides tips and strategies for understanding and overcoming them. From physical and emotional changes, through to changes of routine and a lack of sleep, Lana Grant explains what women on the spectrum should expect in pregnancy and motherhood, as well as preparing them for the inevitable unexpected! Her stories of learning to make allowances for her feelings and her witty anecdotes offer support and a like-minded voice to women on the spectrum. She discusses everything from learning to understand the language used by medical professionals, who to tell what and when, and the dangers of over-sharing, through to sensory challenges during and after delivery, what to expect from staff in the hospital, and the social challenges of interacting with other mums before and after the birth. The first book on this important topic of pregnancy and motherhood on the autism spectrum, From Here to Maternity provides much needed support, insight and understanding for women on the spectrum, their family and friends, and the professionals working with them during and after pregnancy.

This comprehensive and accessible guide provides birth workers and lactation professionals with the skills to help families navigate the emotional and physical challenges of weaning. Using a compassionate, person-centred approach that prioritises the needs of both mother and child, this pioneering resource details the emotional impact of weaning and offers practical guidance and expert advice suitable for professionals and parents alike in order to facilitate complex decision-making processes and set healthy boundaries. Enriched with the voices of parents talking about their individual weaning experiences, this is a much-needed, empathetic approach to the complex journey of weaning.

This book offers the first ever book-length treatment of the topic of transitioning from adolescence to adulthood with autism and the attendant ethical, legal and social issues for the individual as well as caregivers and professionals. It features experts in a variety of areas (law, bioethics, philosophy, pediatrics, neurology, medicine, psychology, special education, social work, employment, civic participation, social media) who provide commentary on these areas and the relevant ethical/legal/social challenges young autistic adults face in these different areas. This is an indispensable read for educators, therapists, and other professionals who work in transition with young autistic adults. Chapter “Autism, the Criminal Justice System, and Transition to Adulthood” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Autistic and Expecting is the first book of its kind to be written specifically for autistic parents, whilst also providing essential reading for health and social care practitioners, enabling them to provide reasonably adjusted care with the best outcomes for autistic people and their babies. Written by an autistic mother who experienced a mental health crisis following a poorly supported pregnancy and childbirth, she gives voice to the experiences of many autistic parents in order to address the issues they collectively and uniquely face. The outcome is a practical, insightful and solution-focused guide to empower autistic parents from pre-conception right through to the first few months with baby, and to inform health and social care staff whose job it is to offer support and to meet their needs at these critical times. This sensitively illustrated book provides the information, resources and confidence autistic parents need to advocate for themselves, as well as developing positive relationships with the professionals involved in their care.