Understanding healthcare professionals’ experiences supporting Autistic people in perinatal care: A qualitative study

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Love, A. M., Edwards, C., Rideout, B., Hollenberg, L., Clapham, H., McKeown, G., Robinson, A., Cai, R. Y., Benzie, C., Rabba, A. S., & Gibbs, V. (2026). Understanding healthcare professionals’ experiences supporting Autistic people in perinatal care: A qualitative study. Midwifery, 160, 104868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2026.104868

Publication date: 25 May 2026 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
11
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 11 (18.2%)
  1. Abigail M.A. Love
  2. Chris Edwards *
  3. Bronwyn Rideout
  4. Linda Hollenberg
  1. Hayley Clapham *
  2. Gilly McKeown
  3. Ainslie Robinson
  4. Ru Ying Cai
  1. Charlie Benzie
  2. Aspasia Stacey Rabba
  3. Vicki Gibbs

Abstract

PROBLEM: Autistic individuals face disproportionately poor outcomes during the perinatal period. BACKGROUND: Lived experience accounts highlight that challenges in interactions with healthcare professionals can reduce birth satisfaction and contribute to traumatic experiences, revealing significant gaps in current perinatal care for this population; yet few studies have explored the experiences of healthcare workers providing this care in Australia. Understanding clinicians' perspectives is essential to inform targeted training, improve care practices, and promote better outcomes for Autistic people during pregnancy and early parenthood. AIM: This study explored, through qualitative analysis, the experiences of Australian perinatal healthcare clinicians providing care for Autistic individuals, during pregnancy and early parenthood. METHODS: Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted on interview and focus group data of 13 perinatal professionals from diverse roles within perinatal healthcare. FINDINGS: Three key themes were created, highlighting the need for targeted training and systemic changes, alongside evidence that professionals often relied on personal experience when formal training was lacking. DISCUSSION: These findings are consistent with international research on perinatal care for Autistic people, but this study is the first to directly examine the perspectives of Australian clinicians, providing unique insights into local practice and challenges that can be leveraged to make systemic change. CONCLUSION: Despite systemic and cultural barriers, Australian perinatal healthcare professionals demonstrate strong commitment to providing individualized, person-centred care for Autistic individuals during pregnancy and early parenthood.

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These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:30.

Cited references
37
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
8 / 37 (21.6%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
20 / 209 (9.6%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 20 / 86 (23.3%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 15 / 186 (8.1%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
86 / 209 (41.1%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 66 / 186 (35.5%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
66 / 86 (76.7%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 66 / 209 (31.6%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 51 / 66 (77.3%).
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