Women with Disabilities

Women in general have a unique set of health care needs; adding disability to the mix of women’s health magnifies the need for expertise, especially in gynecology, obstetrics, management of menopause and psychosocial issues. Part of the problem for women with disabilities is finding reliable information that would lead to acceptable levels of competence in the health care system. Another problem is even getting in the door and on the exam table.

According to a national study conducted by the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities at Baylor College of Medicine, women with physical disabilities encounter serious barriers to receiving general and reproductive health care.

Specifically:

• Thirty-one percent of women in the study were refused care by a physician because of their disability.

• Women in the study reported considerable difficulty locating physicians who were knowledgeable about their disability to help them manage their pregnancy.

• More women with disabilities reported chronic urinary tract infections, heart disease, depression, and osteoporosis at younger ages than the comparison group of women without disabilities.

• Physicians and women with spinal cord injuries themselves often operate under the misconception that pregnancy following SCI should be avoided. Consequently, women with disabilities report difficulty in finding obstetricians or midwives willing to assist them with their "high risk" pregnancies.

• According to the study, “… women with physical disabilities, particularly those with more severe functional impairments, are not receiving the same quality of gynecologic health care as their able-bodied counterparts.”