Pregnant women who experience verbal, physical
domestic abuse at higher risk of childbirth-related complications
July 24, 2005
Women who report having been physically or verbally abused by a partner or
family member during pregnancy are more likely to have childbirth-related
complications than women who do not report such abuse, according to a study
published in the July issue of... Obstetrics
& Gynecology, Reuters
Health reports. Nicole Yost of the University
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and colleagues requested interviews
from all women who had given birth between 2000 and 2002 at Parkland
Health & Hospital System, which serves mainly low-income, uninsured
patients (Norton, Reuters Health, 7/20). Of the 16,041 patients
approached for interviews, 15,947 agreed to be interviewed using a domestic
violence screening questionnaire (Yost et al., Obstetrics & Gynecology,
July 2005). About 5% of respondents reported verbal abuse, and about 1% reported
physical abuse. The study found that 8% of women who reported experiencing
verbal abuse had a low-birthweight infant, compared with 5% of women who did not
report abuse. About 1.5% of women who reported experiencing physical abuse
during pregnancy gave birth to infants who died soon after delivery, compared
with 0.2% of women who did not report abuse, according to the study. However,
the 94 women who refused to complete the questionnaire had the highest rates of
pregnancy-related complications, including premature delivery or delivery of
infants born at low birthweight or requiring admission to the newborn intensive
care. The women who refused to participate also were the least likely to have
received prenatal care. Yost said, "We can only speculate that women who
declined to be interviewed were abused and fearful of retaliation," adding
that "women who remain silent when questioned about the subject may, in
fact, be speaking the loudest." It remains unclear whether physical and
verbal abuse directly contribute to poor pregnancy outcomes or indirectly lead
to complications, and further research is needed, Yost said (Reuters
Health, 7/20).
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