Providing Accessible Healthcare for Autistic Women

Abstract

Narratives by autistic women regard their maternity-care experiences with feelings such as being isolated, neglected, stigmatised and judged. They feel hospital environments overload their senses which causes barriers to accessing maternity care. I have spent some time researching and creating a series of support plans to invite conversations between autistic women and maternity staff to create accessible, meaningful healthcare encounters. The aim of this article is to provide some ideas for care adjustments so that future narratives overflow with positive encounters.