Intimate partner violence during pregnancy: Women's narratives about their mothering experiences

Abstract

Pregnancy Intimate partner violence Difficulties at delivery Mothering skills Qualitative research Palabras clave: Embarazo Violencia contra la mujer Dificultades durante el parto Habilidades maternales Estudio cualitativo A B S T R A C TIntimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health issue and the most common form of violence against women worldwide. Pregnancy does not protect against this phenomenon, which may cause adverse health outcomes for both the mother and the newborn. The main aim of this study was to assess the impact of IPV on women's pregnancies. Thirty-five Spanish women (mean age = 44.23 years, SD = 10.30) who had suffered IPV were interviewed and asked to explain the violent incidents that they experienced, the mothering skills that they developed toward their children, and the difficulties that they experienced at delivery. The results showed that most of the participants continued to experience psychological and physical abuse during their pregnancy, whereas a few of the participants began to experience sexual abuse. As a consequence of IPV, some mothers suffered negative obstetrical outcomes at delivery. The negative effects of IPV on the women's mothering skills were especially remarkable.La violencia contra la mujer es un problema de salud pública y la manera más común de violencia hacía la mujer a nivel mundial. El embarazo no es un factor de protección ante tal fenómeno, ya que ser víctima de violencia puede generar efectos negativos tanto en la madre como en el recién nacido. El objetivo principal de este estudio fue evaluar el impacto de la violencia en el embarazo de las mujeres. Se entrevistó a 35 mujeres (M =44.23 años, DT = 10.30) víctimas de violencia para que narraran los episodios de violencia que sufrieron durante el embarazo y las habilidades maternales que desarrollaron para con sus hijos e hijas y explicaran las posibles dificultades que padecieron durante el parto. Los resultados muestran que muchas de las participantes siguieron sufriendo violencia psicológica y física durante el embarazo, mientras que un número reducido de mujeres manifestó haber comenzado a experimentar también episodios de violencia sexual. Como consecuencia de la violencia, algunas mujeres padecieron consecuencias negativas al dar a luz. Es de destacar el impacto de la violencia en las habilidades maternales de las mujeres.

Victims of Domestic Violence in Shelters: Impacts on Women and Children

“…In about 35% of cases, professionals at the centers described the mother's parenting practices as deficient. A recent study showed that DV can negatively affect the process of parenting (Izaguirre & Calvete, 2014), corroborating the results of the present study. These relational and parenting difficulties may be linked to the impact that an abusive environment has on all areas of a woman's life, including work, economic, and social (Helfrich et al, 2008), that result in emotional difficulties and affect the mental health of the mother and children (Levendosky & Graham-Bermann, 2001;Yoo & Huang, 2013).…”

“…These problems can spill over into the academic area, with many boys and girls experiencing problems at school and difficulties in their social relationships (Izaguirre & Calvete, 2015). Some studies also showed that DV negatively affected the process of parenting (Izaguirre & Calvete, 2014;Levendosky & Graham-Bermann, 2001;Yoo & Huang, 2013). For example, some of the previous studies found that because of their emotional difficulties several female victims of DV displayed more negative parenting behaviors, such as greater use of spanking as a disciplinary behavior, and even abusive behaviors (Taylor, Guterman, Lee, & Rathouz, 2009).…”

Prevalence of domestic violence and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care service at University of Gondar Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

“…Violence during pregnancy is particularly harmful as it threatens both maternal and fetal life. Previous studies revealed that pregnant women who experienced violence were found to have increased risks of ante-partum hemorrhage [15], intrauterine growth retardation [16], premature rupture of membrane [17, 18], cesarean delivery [18–20], preterm birth [21, 22], low birth weight babies [17, 18, 21, 23], stillbirth [15, 23, 24], and neonatal mortality [24, 25] when compared with those who did not experience the problem.…”

“If He’s Abusing You . . . the Baby Is Going to Be Affected”: HIV-Positive Pregnant Women’s Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence

“…A small number of qualitative studies have explored different aspects of IPV with pregnant women. Although a majority were conducted in high-income countries (Bacchus, Mezey, & Bewley, 2006; Izaguirre & Calvete, 2014; Rose et al, 2010), a few studies were located in low- and middle-income countries, including South Africa. For example, Damra and colleagues (2015) explored Jordanian pregnant women’s experiences of IPV disclosure and help-seeking from health care professionals and found that lack of privacy, continuity of care, time constraints, and barriers to disclosure contributed to women’s dissatisfaction with the care they received.…”