What It’s Like Being A Midwife With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

Some women with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may go their entire lives without receiving a diagnosis. This diagnosis gap exists in part because the disorder was once assumed to mostly afflict men but also because women typically exhibit less socially disruptive symptoms than men.1 Most ADHD clinic referrals for nearly a century were for young, hyperactive boys.2 The data characterising boys’ behaviours served as the foundation for early diagnostic standards. Since hyperactivity was demonstrated to be the hallmark, only rarely were young females diagnosed. The primary symptoms of inattention that most girls with ADHD encountered did not meet the diagnostic criteria, therefore ADHD was thought to be a typically male condition. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) recorded that 99.7% of midwives in the UK are women, while 3.7% of midwives have disclosed a disability.3 This could be suggestive of high numbers of UK midwives working and living with undiagnosed (therefore untreated) ADHD. This article explores the personal experience of being a midwife with ADHD with guidance on how colleagues can be supportive of each other.