A study examined reproductive health care utilization among U.S. females with disabilities who had recent live births. It found that women with disabilities face greater preconception health risks and poorer perinatal outcomes. Using data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System collected between 2018 and 2020, the study analyzed health care access before, during, and after pregnancy based on the extent of disability.

Of the 41,210 participants, 34.2% reported some difficulty and 6.7% reported a lot of difficulty. Those with some difficulty were more likely to forgo pre-pregnancy reproductive health care visits and prenatal care, with adjusted prevalence ratios ranging from 1.10 to 1.24 compared to those without difficulty. Women with significant difficulties showed even greater disparities, reporting a 171% higher prevalence of not receiving any prenatal care and a 63% higher prevalence of lacking postpartum checkups.

The findings highlight the need for improved access and coordination of reproductive health care services for females with disabilities to enhance their health outcomes.