‘I Just Wanted It to End’: Sensory Experiences of Autistic Women During Pregnancy and Childbirth
Aline Veras Morais Brilhante, Christina César Praça Brasil, Raimunda Magalhães da Silva, Luciana Mota, Layane Sabóia, Melania Maria Ramos de Amorim
Autistic women experience the perinatal cycle with specific sensory challenges that remain insufficiently documented, particularly among those with diverse support levels. This qualitative study investigated sensory processing experiences of autistic women during pregnancy and labour, and how environmental and attitudinal factors articulate with sensory overload. Thirty-four autistic Brazilian women with Support Levels 1 and 2 (
Lay Abstract
Autistic women often face challenges during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period related to how they process sensory information such as sounds, lights, touch and smells. Very little research has explored how these differences affect the experience of becoming a mother, and even less has included autistic women with higher support needs or complex communication needs. This study explored the sensory experiences of 34 autistic women in Brazil through in-depth interviews, deliberately including women with Support Levels 1 and 2, some of whom used augmentative and alternative communication. The interviews were conducted in multiple formats (video call, in-person and text messaging) to ensure accessibility. We found that pregnancy amplified pre-existing sensory sensitivities. Smells, temperature changes and foetal movement were experienced with an intensity far beyond what is typically reported, sometimes causing shutdowns and crises. The hospital birth environment was a major source of sensory overload, with touch being the most distressing stimulus: 31 of 34 women reported aversive experiences related to being touched during labour. Even comfort techniques widely recommended for pain relief, such as massage, were described as unbearable. Communication barriers intensified suffering throughout the perinatal cycle: women reported that health care professionals frequently dismissed their sensory experiences as exaggeration or anxiety, which made it harder to access appropriate care. More than half the participants (19 of 34) reported memory gaps and dissociation during labour, suggesting that childbirth can be a traumatic event for autistic women when care is not adapted to their sensory needs. When health care teams made accommodations (reducing lighting, minimising unnecessary touch, maintaining continuity of care, providing predictability), women reported substantially better experiences. A key methodological finding was that the apparent saturation of themes observed when only women with Support Level 1 were interviewed proved artifactual: including women with higher support needs revealed new and important experiences that would otherwise have been missed. These findings highlight the need for sensory-informed, neurodiversity-affirming perinatal care and for research that deliberately includes autistic women with diverse support levels and communication profiles.