Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1459407
8 Unity SUNDAY 13 MARCH 2022 Amy Zahra Disability Studies ARTICLE 9 of the United Na- tions Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) affirms the right of disabled people to accessibility in all spheres of life, including the right of access to venues, properties, facilities, provision of goods and services for per- sons with disability. The right to found a family is also affirmed in Article 23 of the UNCRPD. Malta ratified the UNCRPD in 2012 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability Act (Chap. 627) was passed by Parliament in Au- gust 2021. Long before that, the same rights were also enshrined in the Equal Opportunities Act (Chap. 413) which was passed by parliament in 2000. Notwithstanding these rights enshrined in legislation, per- sons with disability who de- cide to have a family still en- counter a number of obstacles when accessing services, facil- ities and activities related to this phase in life (Azzopardi Lane, 2021; Callus & Azzopar- di-Lane, 2016). Research carried out in Eu- rope and the US shows that a number of services related to pregnancy do not always in- clude or accommodate disa- bled women's access require- ments (Iezzoni et al., 2015; Malouf et al., 2017; Mitra et al., 2016). The situation is not very dif- ferent in Malta: the lack of accommodations, including accessible parking, accessible facilities, accessible equipment such as weighing scales for mothers who use a wheelchair and height-adjustable exam- ining tables, and accessible information particularly for mothers with a visual impair- ment, hearing impairment or an intellectual impairment... Some mothers with a physi- cal impairment also find that in the maternity environment, that is in the few days before and after giving birth, some basic facilities in hospitals such as showers, toilets and baths are inaccessible. Disabled parents also often find it harder to access sources of support during family plan- ning, pregnancy, maternity and child-rearing for reasons such as inaccessible environ- ments, negative attitudes and structural disadvantages (Par- chomiuk, 2014). The need for support is even greater for parents with intel- lectual disability who are at a higher risk of having their chil- dren taken away from them (Callus & Azzopardi-Lane, 2016). As the babies grow, par- ents with disability also realise that most of the services and activities aimed towards their children are inaccessible for them. Most 'mother and baby' clubs and organised activities for children and parents are held in inaccessible venues with long flights of steps, mak- ing such services inaccessible for parents – both mothers and fathers – with disability. Examples include extracur- ricular activities for children where a parent needs to ac- company the child, venues for children's parties and doctor's appointments. Another example is the ba- by-changing stations in toi- lets, which are not accessible for parents with disability who use a wheelchair since they are too high. Research shows that a mi- nority of women with disabili- ty do have positive experiences when it comes to pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing (e.g. Hall et al., 2018). Most of them cite that a per- son-centred approach was adopted, with their require- ments being accommodated on a case-by-case basis. Al- though this is welcomed, the problem with this approach is that not all parents might feel empowered enough to put for- ward their needs and require- ments at every stage of parent- hood and some might miss out on important milestones. Since we do have legislation catering for these rights, the onus of responsibility should fall on the service provider. Malta already has laws catering for the rights of parents with disability. So the onus of responsibility falls on the service provider Accessibility for parents with disability: fact or fantasy? References Azzopardi-Lane, C. (2021, May 6). Disabled mothers and parenting benchmarks. Times of Malta. https://time- sofmalta.com/articles/view/ disabled-mothers-and-parent- ing-benchmarks-claire-azzopar- di-lane.869734 Callus, A. M., & Azzopardi-Lane, C. (2016). Disability and parenting - The experiences of four women with disability. Considering Dis- ability. http://doi.org/10.17774/ CDJ1.42016.10.20575874 Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act, Cap. 413 (2000). https://legislation.mt/eli/ cap/413/eng/pdf Hall, J., Hundley, V., Collins, B., & Ireland, J. (2018). Dignity and respect during pregnancy and childbirth: a survey of the experience of disabled women. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 18 (328). http://doi/org/10.1186/ s12884-018-1950-7 Iezzoni, L. I., Wint, A. J., Smeltzer, S. C., & Ecker, J. L. (2015). Physical accessibility of routine prenatal care for women with mobility disability. Journal of Women's Health, 24 (12), 1006-1012. Malouf, R., Henderson, J., & Redshaw, M. (2017). Access and quality of maternity care for dis- abled women during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period in England: Data from a national survey. British Medical Journal Open, 7. http://doi.org/10.1136/ bmjopen-2017-016757 Mitra, M., Long-Bellil, L. M., Iezzo- ni, L. I., Smeltzer, S. C., & Smith, L. D. (2016). Pregnancy among women with physical disabilities: Unmet needs and recommenda- tions on navigating pregnancy. Disability and Health Journal, 9 (3), 457-463. Parchomiuk, M. (2014). Social context of disabled parenting. Sexuality and Disability, 32 (2), 231-242. United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, (2006). https://www.un.org/dis- abilities/documents/convention/ convoptprot-e.pdf United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, Cap. 627 (2021). https://legis- lation.mt/eli/cap/627/eng Disabled parents also often find it harder to access sources of support during family planning, pregnancy, maternity and child-rearing for reasons such as inaccessible environments, negative attitudes and structural disadvantages Family