Women with disabilities who are pregnant, parenting or planning to become parents face a range of
barriers to successful parenting. They experience higher rates of domestic violence, poverty, social
isolation and reproductive coercion than their non-disabled peers. Women with disabilities who are
pregnant are less likely to breastfeed and less likely to have control over decisions during their labour
than their non-disabled peers. Women with disabilities are significantly more likely to be involved
with the child protection system and have their parenting capacity questioned. This is a big fear for
parents and may reduce their likelihood of engaging with a mainstream parents group. Though rates
of breastfeeding are low for parents with disabilities, disability specific parenting peer support groups
may increase rates of breastfeeding. Knowing these issues, it must be acknowledged that women*
with disabilities who are pregnant, parenting or planning to become parents may be more likely to
experience structural oppression that intersects, or overlaps, creating greater levels of disadvantage.
Although the Women with Disabilities ACT Parenting Peer Support Group aimed to focus on the
strengths of participants, it is important to acknowledge these experiences of oppression and work
towards reducing them through our work at WWDACT.
You can read our report from this project below.