Pregnancy in Women with Disabilities (R01) | PA 17 452

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 17 452

The Pregnancy in Women with Disabilities (R01) funding opportunity (PA-17-452) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant program administered through the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). It supports R01 research projects that build a stronger evidence base on how pregnancy unfolds for women with disabilities, with a focus on understanding how often pregnancy occurs in these populations, what the pregnancy course looks like, and what outcomes result for both the pregnant person and their family. The intent is to move beyond broad assumptions and produce data that can directly improve clinical care, counseling, and support services for women with a wide range of disability experiences.

A central emphasis of the announcement is research on the incidence, course, and outcomes of pregnancy among women with disabilities, including physical disabilities, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and sensory disabilities. Projects may examine maternal and infant health outcomes, patterns of pregnancy complications, postpartum issues, and longer-term impacts tied to the transition to parenthood. The FOA also highlights the need to generate practical knowledge that clinicians and health systems can use, especially evidence that informs preconception counseling (before pregnancy) and antenatal counseling (during pregnancy). This includes understanding what information women with disabilities need, what counseling approaches are effective, and how providers can better anticipate and manage disability-related or disability-intersecting health needs throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Another major target area is identifying and addressing barriers to prenatal care and pregnancy management. That can include obstacles such as inaccessible facilities or equipment, communication barriers (including for sensory disabilities), inadequate provider training, fragmented coordination between obstetric and disability-related care, transportation challenges, insurance or cost issues, stigma, and gaps in culturally competent, disability-competent care. The announcement also points to the importance of research on clinical management across key phases: pregnancy itself, the puerperium (the postpartum period following childbirth), and the transition to parenthood. In practice, that can involve studying care pathways, postpartum recovery and mental health, parenting supports, breastfeeding or infant-feeding support, and accommodations needed to optimize safety, autonomy, and family wellbeing.

The FOA explicitly encourages community-engaged approaches. Applicants are urged to include women with disabilities and community members in the design and conduct of the research, reflecting an expectation that studies should be shaped by lived experience and real-world needs, not just clinical or administrative perspectives. This can strengthen relevance, improve recruitment and retention, and help ensure that study measures and outcomes reflect what matters most to women with disabilities and their families.

Eligibility is broad, reflecting NIH norms for R01 mechanisms and the FOA language. Eligible applicants include many types of U.S. governmental entities (state, county, city/township, special districts), school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and federally recognized tribal governments. It also includes public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments, and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories). For-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses may apply, as well as other organizations that meet NIH requirements. The FOA further highlights additional eligible groups such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), along with faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations).

Administratively, this opportunity is categorized under Health, Income Security and Social Services, with CFDA number 93.865, and uses the NIH R01 grant mechanism (a standard Research Project Grant). The source record lists an original closing date of 2020-09-07 and does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided excerpt, which is common in some NIH postings where budgets and award counts depend on meritorious applications, available funds, and institute priorities. Overall, the program aims to fund rigorous, actionable research that improves pregnancy-related counseling, care access, clinical management, and postpartum support for women with disabilities, while elevating partnership with the disability community as a core element of strong project design.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pregnancy in Women with Disabilities (R01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-08-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-09-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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