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.

Autorentext

Hayley Morgan
Hayley Morgan is an autistic mother, educator and advocate. Her passion is that of promoting equality of identity, self and access to healthcare for autistic parents.

Emma Durman
Emma Durman is co-director of AutSide Education and Training, a company that specialises in training, consultancy and support for a wide range of families and professionals. Emma has also worked closely with Welsh Government via ASD Info Wales and the Integrated Autism Services She was intrinsic to the creation of the recently-launched Welsh Government Guidance on Autism and Housing and is a co-ordinator on a pan-European Erasmus Plus project on autism and employment alongside the National Autistic Society.

Karen Henry
Karen Henry is a lecturer in midwifery at the University of Suffolk and a registered midwife. As an autistic mother, her midwifery practice was fuelled by a passion to create accessible maternity care for other autistic women. Karen has studied autism at master's level, has published in several journals and was awarded a Florence Nightingale Foundation scholarship which she used to design and implement maternity support plans for autistic people. Karen also has experience of being a link midwife for autism and learning disabilities in the hospital setting.