Associate Professor and Registered Nurse Laura Foran Lewis and her team explored birth stories of autistic women to understand how they make sense of the experience of childbirth. Accounts of poor communication, untreated pain, and sensory overload dominated the birth narratives, as study participants expressed feelings that their concerns were minimized, their wishes were ignored, and they were left out of critical communication and education during the birth process. Participants also emphasized the struggle they experienced when their own autistic traits, such as sensory sensitivities, were out of balance with the birth environment, impairing their ability to communicate with providers and participate in the birth. The study pointed toward specific actions nurses could take to improve the birth experiences of autistic women, and its results posed challenges to conclusions of previous research documenting delayed bonding between autistic mothers and their babies, Lewis adds.

“In the past, we've just assumed that these early parenting outcomes are directly related to autism, but our study sheds new light on the severe trauma many of these women face during childbirth that may lead to detachment and postpartum depression,” said Lewis. Her study won the 2022 “Best of the Journal” award from The Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing.

Read more about Laura Foran Lewis’ study.

Research of this type has contributed to the University of Vermont's designation by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an R1 institution, placing it in the top tier of research universities in the U.S.