To investigate the association between labor epidural analgesia exposure and the risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring, this meta-analysis reviewed relevant literature from Medline, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and EMBASE databases from inception to May 2022 to evaluate the overall adjusted risk of autism spectrum disorder in…

Available research suggests autistic mothers experience greater dissatisfaction with maternity care compared to non-autistic mothers. Limited research exists exploring autistic mothers' experiences of maternity care, and no research to date has considered maternity care professionals' experiences of delivering care to autistic mothers. This…

Autistic people are more likely to be transgender, which means having a gender identity different to one's sex assigned at birth. Some transgender people experience distress about this incongruence or gender dysphoria. Few studies have aimed to understand the inner experiences of this group. In this study, we used Interpretive Phenomenological…

Autistic people may be at higher risk of perinatal mental health conditions, given that autism and mental health conditions commonly co-occur and that autistic people face additional stressors such as barriers to appropriate maternity care. This study explored self-reported stress, depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life during the third…

The sex bias in autism diagnosis suggests the involvement of sex-specific endocrine mechanisms during prenatal development, but these hormones affect health throughout life. Therefore, the current study examined the association of autism and autistic traits with conditions and symptoms related to the sex-steroid system in adult women. In total,…

Navigating childbirth and the postnatal period may pose additional challenges for autistic people, who can face communication and sensory barriers to accessing healthcare. However, research exploring autistic experiences of parenthood is scarce. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 autistic and 25 non-autistic women 2-3 months after…

A case-control study was performed to determine whether an association exists between exposure to synthetic oxytocin and a subsequent autism spectrum disorder diagnosis; 171 children under age 18 meeting "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (5th ed.) autism spectrum disorder criteria were compared to 171 children…