Roda's 10th Annual Milk Conference and reBIRTH 2017
Motherhood and Women with Disabilities
Friday, November 10, 2017, Hotel Westin Zagreb, Izidora Kršnjavoga Street 1, 10000 Zagreb
PROGRAM
8:00 - 9:00
Registration
9:00 – 9:15
Anka Slonjšak, Ombudsperson for Persons with Disabilities
Conference Opening
9:15 - 9:30
Branka Mrzić Jagatić, Roda - Parents in Action
Presenting the Motherhood and Women with Disabilities Research Study
The Motherhood and Women with Disabilities Research Study was conducted in Croatia during 2015 and 2016, with 120 women with sensory and physical disabilities participating. This talk will present the experiences of women with disabilities in the healthcare system as well as recommendations on improving healthcare being offered to women with disabilities.
9:30 - 9:45
Marica Mirić, The Alliance of Associations of Persons with Disabilities Croatia (SOIH)
Women with Disabilities and Reproductive Rights
In addition to the right to care, sexual and reproductive health rights also include issues such as accessibility and availability of healthcare services. Although women with disabilities have the same health, reproductive and sexual needs as women without disabilities, the former still experience great barriers and stereotypes as well as discrimination.
Women with disabilities experience "double" discrimination and are in a more precarious position than persons without disabilities, but also in a more precarious position than men with disabilities. The healthcare system can exacerbate a person's disability in a number of ways: by not offering or not providing adequate care, suggesting institutional accommodation, by being unprofessional or by keeping important information from them.
As a rule, women with disabilities are considered asexual beings, and when considering motherhood are often told that they are not capable of taking care of themselves, much less a child. This talk will include international and national legislative and other acts that guarantee women with disabilities an adequate level of healthcare, especially in the area of reproductive health. This talk will also increase participants' awareness of the difficulties faced by women with disabilities in healthcare and as such contribute to improving sexual and reproductive healthcare for this important but overlooked group of women.
9:45 - 10:45
Jennifer Butters, Carmel Doyle, Liverpool Women's Hospital, Great Britain
Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum Care for Women with Physical Disabilities
Midwives Jenny Butters and Carmel Doyle work at Liverpool Women's Hospital, one of the largest maternity units in Europe with over nine thousand births per year. Liverpool Women's has a dedicated team of midwives who provide care for expectant parents who need extra support, which includes women with disabilities. Both midwives are specialised and have years of experience providing care for women with disabilities during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. During this talk they will share their experiences in working as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing women with physical disabilities all the support they need during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. This talk will be especially interesting for healthcare providers who will gain new knowledge about providing support as part of a team and examples of working with women with physical disabilities.
10:45 - 11:45 COFFEE BREAK
11:45 - 12:45
Erika Nilsson, Nora Sandholdt, SCI Parenting, Sweden
Fertility, Pregnancy, Birth and Breastfeeding - Women with Spinal Injuries
Women with spinal injuries have an equal chance for becoming pregnant as other women do. Studies have shown that women with spinal cord injuries have the exact same changes for having a healthy baby as women without spinal cord injuries. However, certain complications are more common and should be monitored. Women with spinal cord injuries can have vaginal births much as every other woman can; and as other women, circumstances can also mean that they give birth by caesarean section.
This talk will discuss common complications and what pregnancy and birth can look like for women with spinal cord injuries. Nora Sandholdt and Erika Nilsson actively collaborate with healthcare workers in Sweden in the area of education on reproductive health and parenting for people with spinal injuries. Health care can only be improved only through close collaboration with patients and healthcare users.
This talk will be a combination of expert and lay perspectives and will contribute to an increased awareness of various topics including fertility, pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding as experienced by women with spinal cord injuries. In Croatia, about 100 people experience a spine injury that leaves them paraplegic or tetraplegic annually; the most common causes are traffic accidents, sports and workplace accidents, violence, etc.
12:45 - 13:45 LUNCH BREAK
13:45 - 14:15
Zorica Kovač, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Croatia
Breastfeeding Support for Women with Physical Disabilities in Breastfeeding
Various physical disabilities can affect the mobility and independence of pregnant women and mothers with disabilities. For this reason it is important to adapt the support provided to the mother's individual needs. Unfortunately, owing to architectural and other barriers, women with disabilities do not attend breastfeeding classes. Breastfeeding support is also lacking for women with multiple sclerosis, those with spinal cord injuries, peripheral neuropathy or spinal muscular atrophy. How does breastfeeding affect a woman's health, and how does a mother's health affect breastfeeding? Oftentimes a mother's health requires that she continue therapies she had taken prior to pregnancy, and the affect of this drug therapy must be evaluated as it affects breastfeeding. This talk will help healthcare providers to find answers to all these questions and more, and prepare them to better provide breastfeeding support to mothers with disabilities.
14:15 - 15:15
Erika Nilsson, Nora Sandholdt, SCI Parenting, Sweden
Parenthood and Persons with Disabilities / Our Best Advice
Erika Nilsson and Nora Sandholdt are paraplegics and mothers. Their practical experience and the experiences of one hundred parents with spinal cord injuries in Sweden have contributed to creating a database of advice that can be helpful to persons with spinal cord injuries. Part of these relate to parenting, because as in other challenges, persons with spinal cord injuries strive to be as independent as possible when caring for their children. Certain techniques and assistive technologies can be helpful. This database can also be helpful to healthcare providers who can then provide care and advice to young parents.
Many of the solutions are available and economical, and can be used by healthcare providers when providing care in the community.
15:15 - 15:45 COFFEE BREAK
15:45 - 16:45
Jennifer Butters, Carmel Doyle, Liverpool Women's Hospital, Great Britain
Pregnancy, Birth and Postnatal Care for Women with Sensory Disabilities
Midwives Jenny Butters and Carmel Doyle work at Liverpool Women's Hospital, one of the largest maternity units in Europe with over nine thousand births per year. Liverpool Women's has a dedicated team of midwives who provide care for expectant parents who need extra support, which includes women with disabilities. Both midwives are specialised and have years of experience providing care for women with disabilities during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. During this talk they will share their experiences in working as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing women with sensory disabilities (deafness, blindness) all the support they need during pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
16:45 - 17:15
Iva Podhorsky Štorek, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Croatia
Breastfeeding Support for Women with Sensory Disabilities
Women who are deaf and hard of hearing or are blind or visually impaired face communications barriers that decrease their chances of participating in breastfeeding courses during pregnancy. For the same reason, they do not have as much support after giving birth. Women with sensory disabilities do not necessarily need significantly more breastefeeding support, but their support must definitely be adapted to fit their needs. In order to achieve this, healthcare providers must learn how to adapt their support to meet the needs of these clients. This talk will help healthcare providers develop skills on providing mothers with sensory disabilities the support hey need to meet their breastfeeding goals.
17:15 - 17:30
Discussion and Conclusions
Conference Partners and Sponsors:
UNICEF Office in Croatia / The Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden / The Ombudsperson for Persons with Disabilities / The Alliance of Associations of Persons with Disabilities Croatia / The Croatian Association of Paraplegics and Tetraplegics / The Croatian Association for Training Seeing Eye Dogs and Mobility / The Alliance of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons in the City of Zagreb