Background
Prior studies have found that women with disabilities who give birth
are more likely to have preterm deliveries and low birthweight infants.
However, it is not known what proportion of pregnant women with disabilities
experience live birth, versus miscarriage or abortion.
Objective
To compare proportions of live birth, miscarriage, and abortion among
women with basic action difficulties, women with complex activity
limitations, and women without disabilities in a nationally representative
sample.
Methods
We analyzed pooled Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data from
Panels 1–11 (covering years 1996–2007), which included a
Pregnancy Detail module assessing outcomes for women who were pregnant
during panel participation. We used chi-square tests and multivariable
logistic regression to compare disability groups on pregnancy outcomes.
Results
Among women with a recorded pregnancy outcome, women with
disabilities were less likely to have live births (80.8% of women
with basic action difficulties and 75.3% of women with complex
activity limitations versus 85.0% of women without disabilities),
but differences related to disability were not significant when adjusting
for covariates. Women with complex activity limitations were significantly
more likely to report miscarriages, even when controlling for covariates.
Disability was not significantly associated with abortion in the adjusted
analysis.
Conclusions
Our findings add to the growing literature on pregnancy outcomes
among women with disabilities, providing important information about
outcomes that are not reflected in delivery records. We found few
differences between women with and without disabilities, and good likelihood
of live birth among women with disabilities experiencing pregnancy.