Sexuality, pregnancy and midwifery care for women with intellectual disabilities: a pilot study on attitudes of university students.

Women with intellectual disability have historically not been provided the opportunity to become mothers. Attitudes held by future professionals will determine the level and quality of support these women are provided. This study was designed to evaluate and compare the attitudes of students from Education, Disability and Midwifery towards the sexuality and parenting of people with an intellectual disability, and to further examine the attitudes held by Midwifery students following a lecture strategy. A questionnaire assessing attitudes towards the sexuality and parenting of people with intellectual disability was implemented and contained the themes of marriage, parenting, sexual intercourse and sterilization. Significant differences were found between student groups on the themes of sterilization and parenting, with further analysis indicating that Disability students held significantly more positive attitudes than the other two groups. Students reported less positive attitudes towards parenting than marriage, sterilization and sexual intercourse. Respondents' age was significantly associated with their attitudes on parenting, indicating that older students held more conservative attitudes towards the ability of people with an intellectual disability to parent. In addition, this research indicated that the attitudes of Midwifery students became more positive following a lecture delivered after the questionnaire.