Citation

Bacchus LJ, Mezey G, Bewley S, Haworth A. Obstet. Gynecol. Surv. 2005; 60(1): 11-13.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Psychiatry, St. George’s Hospital Medical School, London, U.K.; and the Women’s Services Directorate Office, St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, U.K.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15618901

Abstract

Domestic violence may have adverse effects on health of both a pregnant woman and her child, before and after birth. Many health professionals still fail to identify domestic violence and offer appropriate help. Pregnant women are frequently in contact with doctors and midwives, offering an opportunity to identify those who are experiencing domestic violence. This cross-sectional study looked at the prevalence of domestic violence when trained midwives routinely ask about it using structured questions. Women aged 16 and older were assessed at the first visit, at 34 weeks gestation, and within 10 days after delivery. Domestic violence, evaluated using a variant of the Abuse Assessment Screen, was defined as any experience of physical or sexual violence from a current or previous partner or family member.A total of 892 women were asked at least once about domestic violence, and 22 of them (2.5%) responded positively. The prevalence was 1.8% at the first visit, 5.8% at 34 weeks gestation, and 5% within 10 days after birth. A majority of women reporting domestic violence had experienced it previously. The relative risk of experiencing violence in the current pregnancy when it had also occurred 1 year or more previously was 10 (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.5-23; P <0.05). Of 94 women reporting violence previously, 13% again experienced it in the current pregnancy. Of women not reporting violence previously, 1.3% did so in the current pregnancy. Nearly 8% of women reported feeling unsafe or afraid, and a similar proportion had been threatened with violence by a partner or relative in the past 12 months.In a retrospective case note survey of 265 maternity records, 1 case of domestic violence in pregnancy (0.4%) was identified. The lifetime prevalence of domestic violence was 13%, and the prevalence in the past 12 months was 6.4%. Routine enquiry by midwives increased the frequency of domestic violence in pregnancy by 2.1% (CI, 0.l1-3.4%; P = 0.03).