Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the five-year incidence of children born to women with intellectual disabilities (ID) in a county in Sweden. Method: In the county of Blekinge, women born between 1975 and 1989 were identified from school registers for children and adolescents with ID. The women’s personal identification numbers were linked and matched with the Swedish Medical Birth Register. Results: In 2010, a total of 98 women with ID were identified from the school registers. The Medical Birth Register showed that nine of these women had given birth to children: one woman gave birth to two children, and eight women had had one child each. The ten children were born between 2004 and 2008. Conclusion: Approximately 2.12 per thousand children are born per year to women with intellectual disabilities according to the incidence rate calculated as a result of the present study. For the whole of Sweden that rate indicates an incidence of approximately 225 children each year. The prevalence of children (aged 0–18 years) being born to women with intellectual disabilities is, on the basis of this study, estimated at about 4,050.

Uppskattningsvis föds 2.12 barn per 1000 födda barn av en mamma med en intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. För hela Sverige skulle detta betyda att det årligen föds ungefär 225 barn som delar denna typ av livsstart. Nyckelord: Funktionsnedsättning, familjer, föräldraskap