Violence before pregnancy and the risk of violence during pregnancy (original) (raw)
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Acta Scientific Medical Sciences, 2021
Objectives: To determine the common types of violence, their effects on pregnant female's health and pregnancy outcomes. Methodology: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in six-month duration by selecting 130 antenatal patients of all trimesters coming from OPD, labor room as an emergency as well as elective patients. The patient's clinical record was analyzed for obstetrical complications and through systematic sampling technique, all the patients were scrutinized for types of violence through a validated questionnaire. All the recorded information entered in SPSS Version-21 with descriptive and inferential analysis with the computation of frequencies, percentages, chi-square tests with the cutoff limit for the significance set at 0.05. Results: One hundred and thirty pregnant women participated in this study with mean average age of 25.12 + 7.89 years. The verbally abused females were (n = 54, 41.5%), followed by physical abused (n = 20, 15.4%) and (n = 44, 33.8%) without disclosing the reason behind violence respectively. Hardly a single female was abused on daily basis (n = 1, 0.8%), whereas majority faced the violence on daily basis (n = 41, 31.5%) followed by monthly frequency (n = 25, 19.2%) respectively. The common problems disclosed were family problems (n = 24, 18.5%) and financial issues (n = 18, 13.8%). Most of the females didn't disclose the effects of violence (n = 56, 43.1%), with emotional distressed females (n = 39, 30%) and lack of care of pregnancy (n = 14, 10.8%) respectively. Conclusion: Intimate partner violence is a frequent public health problem indicating immediate measures to curb this situation. The results showed a majority of verbally abused, emotionally disturbed women and family problems as the root cause behind.
Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, 2008
In order to assess the relationship between lifetime and during pregnancy experience of violence and low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth outcomes, we designed a prospective cohort study in which the birth outcomes of women who experienced violence before their pregnancy or who experienced violence during pregnancy were compared to women who reported no lifetime experience of violence. We found that the risk of having a low birth weight or preterm baby was higher for women who did not experience violence. The proportion of women who had LBW babies was 7.1% for women who experienced violence during pregnancy, 7.8% for women who experienced violence before the current pregnancy, and 9.1% for nonexposed women. The proportion of preterm births was 3.5% for women exposed to violence during pregnancy, 8.5% for women exposed before the current pregnancy, and 9.7% for nonexposed women. However, married women who experienced violence had a higher proportion of LBW and preterm infants compared to the reference group of nonvictims of violence. Overall, women who experienced violence during pregnancy and before their current pregnancy did not have a greater proportion of LBW babies or preterm births. The findings suggest that married women in certain populations may experience more frequent or more severe experience of violence than unmarried women. J Midwifery Womens Health 2008;53:522-528
Partner Violence Among Women Before, During, and After Pregnancy
Womens Health Issues, 2007
Objectives. Although partner violence during pregnancy has serious consequences for women's health, little is known about how physical partner violence may change throughout pregnancy transitions. Even less is known about changes in sexual and psychological partner violence throughout pregnancy transitions. In addition, few research studies on pregnancy and partner violence have examined these changes among both victimized women (i.e., women who report physical partner violence at the beginning of their pregnancies) and comparison women (i.e., women who do not report physical partner violence during this same time period).
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2011
Background: Abuse and violence against women constitute a global public health problem and are particularly important among women of reproductive age. The literature is not conclusive regarding the impact of violence against pregnant women on adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, small for gestational age and postpartum depression. Most studies have been conducted on relatively small samples of high-risk women. Our objective was to investigate what dimensions of violence against pregnant women were associated with preterm birth, small for gestational age and postpartum depression in a nationally representative sample of Canadian women. Methods: We analysed data of the Maternity Experiences Survey, a nationally representative survey of Canadian women giving birth in 2006. The comprehensive questionnaire included a 19-item section to collect information on different dimensions of abuse and violence, such as type, frequency, timing and perpetrator of violence. The survey design is a stratified simple random sample from the 2006 Canadian Census sampling frame. Participants were 6,421 biological mothers (78% response rate) 15 years and older who gave birth to a singleton live birth and lived with their infant at the time of the survey. Logistic regression was used to compute Odds Ratios. Survey weights were used to obtain point estimates and 95% confidence intervals were obtained with the jacknife method of variance estimation. Covariate control was informed by use of directed acyclic graphs.
Frequency and pattern of intimate partner violence before, during and after pregnancy
Revista De Saude Publica, 2011
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence and analyze the pattern of intimate partner violence, before and during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. METHODS: This was a cohort study undertaken on 960 women aged 18 to 49 years, who were registered in the Family Health Program of the city of Recife, Northeastern Brazil, between 2005 and 2006. The women were interviewed during pregnancy and in the postpartum period, using a questionnaire adapted from the World Health Organization's Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence. To assess the pattern of intimate partner violence occurrences between a given time period and the subsequent period, the odds ratio (OR) was calculated with 95% confi dence intervals (95%CI). RESULTS: The prevalence of intimate partner violence before, during and/or after pregnancy was estimated to be 47.4%. For the three periods separately, it was 32.4%, 31.0% and 22.6% respectively. The women who reported violence before pregnancy were 11.6 times more likely to report violence during pregnancy (95%CI: 8.3;16.2). When the women reported violence during pregnancy, the chance of reports in the postpartum period was 8.2 times higher (95%CI: 5.1;11.7). Psychological violence was more prevalent, especially during pregnancy (28.8%; 95%CI: 26.0%;31.7%). Sexual violence was less prevalent, especially after delivery (3.7%; 95%CI: 2.6%;5.0%). Physical violence diminished by almost 50% during pregnancy, in comparison with the preceding period. CONCLUSIONS: A signifi cant proportion of women of reproductive age experience situations of intimate partner violence. The periods of prenatal and childcare consultations are opportunities for healthcare professionals to identify situations of violence.
Violence against women before and during gestation: differences in prevalence rates and perpetrators
Revista Brasileira de Saúde Materno Infantil, 2020
Objectives: to analyze differences in prevalence and perpetrators of violence against women before and during pregnancy. Methods: this is a cross-sectional study with a sample of 1,446 pregnant women interviewed in 2010 and 2011 in the São Luís municipality (Brazil). Thirteen questions measured psychological, physical and sexual violence in the 12 months before and during pregnancy. Psychological/physical/sexual violence was defined as any type of violence perpetrated against the interviewees. The perpetrators were categorized into intimate partner, other family members, community members, and multiple perpetrators. Differences between violence before and during pregnancy were analyzed by the chi-square test. Results: psychological/physical/sexual and psychological violence were more prevalent during pregnancy than before gestation (p<0.001). Insults, humiliation and intimidation (p<0.05) were more frequently reported during pregnancy. An intimate partner was the most frequent...
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2014
Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) before and during pregnancy is associated with a broad range of adverse health outcomes. Describing the extent and the evolution of IPV is a crucial step in developing interventions to reduce the health impact of IPV. The objectives are to study the prevalence of psychological abuse, as well as physical & sexual violence, and to provide insight into the evolution of IPV 12 months before and during pregnancy. Methods: Between June 2010 and October 2012, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 11 antenatal care clinics in Belgium. Consenting pregnant women were asked to complete a questionnaire (available in Dutch, French and English) in a separate room. Ethical clearance was obtained in all participating hospitals. Results: The overall percentage of IPV was 14.3% (95% CI: 12.7 -16.0) 12 months before pregnancy and 10.6% (95% CI: 9.2 -12.1) during pregnancy. Physical partner violence before as well as during pregnancy was reported by 2.5% (95% CI: 1.7 -3.3) of the respondents (n = 1894), sexual violence by 0.9% (95% CI 0.5 -1.4), and psychological abuse by 14.9% (95% CI: 13.3 -16.7). Risk factors identified for IPV were being single or divorced, having a low level of education, and choosing another language than Dutch to fill out the questionnaire. The adjusted analysis showed that physical partner violence (aOR 0.35, 95% CI: 0.22 -0.56) and psychological partner abuse (aOR 0.7, 95% CI: 0.63 -0.79) were significantly lower during pregnancy compared to the period of 12 months before pregnancy. The difference between both time periods is greater for physical partner violence (65%) compared to psychological partner abuse (30%). The analysis of the frequency data showed a similarly significant evolution for physical partner violence and psychological partner abuse, but not for sexual violence.
Violence against women during pregnancy: sistematized revision
Reprodução & Climatério, 2014
Violence against women is widely recognized as a serious public health problem. The pregnancy is a risk factor for increasing the violence, especially when it is related to socioeconomic conditions. The objective of this work is to ascertain the relation between violence against women during pregnancy in developed countries and in developing countries. It was performed a systematized review. It was proceeded a search of the literature through online databases MEDLINE and SciELO in December 2013, only with articles published between January 1, 2003 and November 30, 2013. The following descriptors were used for searching on the database "domestic violence" (Medical Subject Headings [MeSH]); "violence against women" (Health Sciences Descriptors [DeCS]); and "pregnancy" (Keyword). The Search strategies resulted in 71 studies. After analysis of the titles and abstracts of articles found for eligibility based on inclusion criteria, 43 articles were deleted and 28 articles were included in the final sample. The study revealed the predominance of researches developed about violence against women during pregnancy in developing countries, strengthening the strong socioeconomic character related to victims and aggressors.
Prevalence and complications of physical violence during pregnancy
European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 2002
Objectives: To assess the incidence of self-reported physical violence in pregnancy and describe the association with foeto-maternal complications and birth outcome. Method: Seven thousand one hundred and five pregnant women over a 3 year period were assessed for selfreported physical violence. Maternal ante-natal hospitalization, low birth weight and pre-term delivery. Odd ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to measure association between physical violence, maternal morbidity and birth outcome. Results: The prevalence of physical violence was 21%. Women who reported/experienced physical violence, were more likely to be hospitalized antenatally for maternal complications such as trauma due to blows/kicks on the pregnant abdomen, abruptio-placenta, pre-term labor and kidney infections. There was a positive association between physical violence during pregnancy and cesarean section, abruptio-placenta, fetal distress, and pre-maturity. Conclusion: Physical violence during pregnancy is common and is associated with adverse materno-fetal outcome. #