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Presentations 

MARG LAUNCH EVENT | June 2023

The Maternity and Autism Research Group is a volunteer collective of Health Professionals and Researchers working together to improve maternity care for autistic women and birthing people. Our aim is to improve the experiences of Autistic people accessing services related to pregnancy and early parenting by signposting information and resources.

Our mission is to act as an Autistic-led collective of health professionals and researchers committed to addressing the Autistic community's priorities around the maternity period, with the emancipation of all Autistic people at the heart of all we do. The MARG website will become an accessible and comprehensive resource for the latest high-quality research, information, resources and training relating to pregnancy and maternity for Autistic people. Our objectives include: - to host and signpost to neurodiversity-positive research, resources and evidence-based tools relating to Autistic people, pregnancy and maternity to benefit Autistic people during pregnancy and early parenting - to raise the profile of, and improve understanding, of Autistic people's needs during maternity and how to implement these within the NHS and beyond to signpost Autistic-led training, consultancy and doula services - to provide a research group for Autistic researchers and health professionals to discuss advancing research in the field within social and biopsychosocial models of Autism. We strive to be Neurodiversity-affirming, trustworthy and professional with integrity and inclusivity at the heart of all we do with an intersectional feminist lens. This event aimed to connect us with interested parties, allies and community voices. We share our group's achievements and goals, our resources and research framework, and discuss all things autism and birth.

Launch Feedback

"Gained a general insight with useful examples, practical tips and scenarios"

"Fantastic to hear lots of speakers that are so knowledgeable on this topic"

"Enjoyed hearing about your research and look forward to finding out more"

"Would love liaison with my trust to give the opportunity to emphasise maternity"

The Autistic Birth Experience – investigating the pregnancy & birth experiences of autistic women

Autistic Pregnancy Birth & Beyond Project

The "Autistic Pregnancy Birth and Beyond: your questions answered" project now has 30+ videos about #ActuallyAutistic experiences of pregnancy and maternity here: https://www.youtube.com/@AutismMenstruationToMenopause/videos Created by: Dr Aimee Grant, Swansea University, Autistic Parents UK, Autistic UK, Autistic Doctors International and a number of the team at MARG.

Autistic pregnancy birth and beyond.jpg

Autism spectrum disorders in the perinatal period - Presentation Virtual International Day of the Midwife Virtual Online Conference (VIDM) 2022, Sophie Rayner, Student Midwife studying undergraduate Masters in Midwifery with Leadership 

This video does not use neurodiversity-affirming language. We are including this resource as it has
been developed by Autistic people and this is the terminology they have chosen to use. To read
more about MARG’s policy on language please see our Research Sharing Framework | Maternity
Autism Research Group MARG

Purple Ella | Autism and Pregnancy
Please ensure you are in a comfortable and safe space
with access to support should you need it as some of the content can be emotionally charged.
Purple Ella, autism advocate, talks about her personal experience of being autistic and pregnant  

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