Objective To determine the prevalence of domestic violence in a population of pregnant women.Design Questionnaire survey.Setting Antenatal booking clinic in a north of England hospital.Population Five hundred consecutive women were included.Methods Anonymous confidential questionnaire to women who were not accompanied by their partners.Main outcome measures Disclosure of a past history of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.Results Four hundred and seventy-five questionnaires were returned (95% response rate). The prevalence of domestic violence was 17%. Domestic violence was highest in the age group 26-30 years and boyfriends were the main perpetrators. Punching and slapping were the most common pattern of violence, and 10% of women experiencing domestic violence had had forced sexual activity. Conclusion The prevalence of domestic violence in a cohort of pregnant women in the north of England was 17%. Consideration should be given for routine screening for domestic violence in pregnancy to institute effective intervention strategies.

This study explores distinctions in Northern Ireland between inter-community (i.e. sectarian) and intra-community (i.e. nonsectarian) violence and their respective impacts on children, and considers these forms of violence in relation to children’s processes of emotional security about community conflict. Preliminary work was based on focus groups with mothers in Belfast, followed by a quantitative study involving mothers in Derry/Londonderry. Support emerged for a conceptually-based distinction between sectarian and nonsectarian violence and differential prediction of children’s adjustment problems, which was more closely linked with sectarian than nonsectarian community violence. Pertinent to explanatory mechanisms, community violence, especially sectarian, related to mothers’ perceptions of children’s emotional insecurity about community. Findings are discussed in terms of future directions for understanding community violence and child development in cultural context.

Objective-To describe the daily lives of rural pregnant women who smoked during pregnancy, with a focus on their sources of stress and the compounding effects of intimate partner violence (IPV).Design-A qualitative study using content analysis of research nurse's telephone logs from a large smoking cessation randomized controlled trial (N = 695) in which 33% of the sample (n = 227) experienced IPV in the past year.Participants-Fifty pregnant women, 25 who had experienced IPV in the past year and 25 who had never experienced IPV, were randomly selected from those who received a nurse-delivered telephone intervention for smoking cessation (n = 345). The mean age of the sample was 22 years, and the majority were White and living in a married-like relationship. Results-Women experiencing IPV discussed certain stressors significantly more often than non-abused women. These stressors included finances, lack of social support, legal issues, transportation issues, and abuse by the intimate partner and others.Conclusion-Health care providers need to recognize that intimate partner violence creates a stress which can compound the stressors of pregnancy and poverty in rural areas. Offering these women a chance to talk about their lives can help them not only to locate necessary resources, but also to break down the barriers of isolation.

Pregnancy and the postpartum period is a time of great physical, psychological, and emotional upheaval. Women who experience intimate partner violence experience more depression and anxiety and a higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes (such as those related to the abuse). While the literature supports the presence of increased health care utilization for abused women, there is little information on the way that these mothers seek medical care for their infants. This secondary analysis is part of a larger study on smoking cessation in low-income, rural pregnant women called Baby Behavioral Education Enhancement of Pregnancy (Baby BEEP). Women (N = 616) were classified as abused or not abused based on their answers to the Abuse Assessment Screen. At 6 weeks postdelivery, each woman was asked, "Has your baby had any problems that you talked to the doctor or nurse about?" The abused women (n = 211) sought health care advice significantly more often than the nonabused women (n = 405; Pearson chi(2) = 4.89; P = .027). Stress scores were elevated for all women in the study, but women categorized as abused experienced significantly more stress (P < .001).

Results are similar to previous research. Early physician buy-in, clinical team education, and ongoing evaluation enhanced facilitation of the oxytocin checklist. Clinical outcomes were favorable.