{
  "abstract": "Background Autistic women often face challenges in accessing maternity care, including experiencing overwhelming sensory demands and being met with a lack of autism-informed support. While inclusive healthcare frameworks exist to promote equitable care, scant autism and maternity-specific policy and guidance result in unmet needs. These challenges can adversely affect well-being, prompting many to seek informal support through online forums. This study explored autistic women’s experiences of pregnancy and early parenthood through a secondary analysis of online forums, a valuable source of candid, peer-shared insights that may not be captured in traditional research methods. The findings aim to inform policies and service delivery to meet the needs of autistic women and equip professionals with autism-informed approaches.Methods Thematic analysis was used to analyse secondary qualitative data from the r/AutisticParents subreddit. The ten most-interacted-with posts related to pregnancy from June 2024 to 2025 were extracted using Parsehub, a web scraping tool.Results Five themes were identified: 1) Sensory Processing and Perceptual Experiences, concerns how sensory sensitivities during pregnancy (i.e., bodily changes; foetal movements) led to overstimulation and fatigue; 2) Parenting Experiences, which described how parents developed strong relationships with children despite initial fears around bonding; 3) Emotional Well-being and Mental Health, whereby parents reported joy, anxiety, self-doubt, and dealing with stigma and feelings of loss of autonomy; 4) Autism-specific Needs and Strengths, which summarised how predictability and structure were valued but often overlooked by healthcare professionals; and 5) Access to Well-being Resources, whereby limited autism-informed care prompted use of online forums and peer networks for advice and emotional support.Conclusion The findings highlight an urgent need for autism-informed perinatal care within the UK to help bridge the knowledge-action gap. Online peer-support forums have a dual function as a source of essential support networks and rich data for understanding lived experiences.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Fuse, The Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, NIHR School of Public Health Research, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK",
        "Population Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Parii Yadav"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P04-3 Autistic women’s experiences of pregnancy and early parenthood: a qualitative exploration of online forums",
  "uid": "64645941-d969-56ed-8e37-b24c8e77abdf"
}