Medical personnel’s knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with regard to mothers with intellectual disability in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

Background: The ability of women with an intellectual disability (ID) to fulfil their role as mothers is also influenced by medical personnel. This exploratory research study’s objective was to investigate medical personnel’s knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with regard to mothers with ID.

Method: The survey was completed by 175 medical personnel. A statistical analysis was undertaken using descriptive statistics, crosstab analysis, and a Pearson chi-square test (p < .05). The open-ended questions and clarification/explanation items were coded following content analysis.

Results: The participants’ knowledge about services for mothers with ID was minimal. The participants’ attitudes provided a mixed picture. Although they believed that women with ID could be successful mothers, many of them also believed that pregnant women with ID should have an abortion.

Conclusions: There is an urgent need to incorporate information about mothers with ID into training and further professional development for medical personnel.

KEYWORDS:

• intellectual disability
• motherhood
• medical personnel
• attitudes
• knowledge
• experiences

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the participating paediatricians, obstetricians, and midwives for taking time to complete the survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Iva Strnadová http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8513-5400

Additional information

Funding

This work was approved and supported by the Grant Agency of the Charles University in Prague, under research [grant number GA UK 1756214].