Maternal and Neonatal Complications Following Domestic Violence during Pregnancy

Background: Violence during pregnancy negatively affects women and might lead to pregnancy complications or adverse birth outcomes. An understanding of the relationship between violence during pregnancy and adverse maternal conditions and birth outcomes could have important clinical and public health implications. The study aims to determine factors influencing domestic violence and their effects on pregnancy in terms of maternal and neonatal outcomes. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 528 pregnant women referring to the clinic in Jahrom in Honaree Clinic, Jahrom, Iran, between April and December 2017. The study data were collected through questionnaires including the demographic characteristic. Besides, the form of partner violence in pregnancy, including emotional, physical, and sexual violence, was assessed using a validated questionnaire. In addition, a check list was used to measure maternal and neonatal outcomes. Determining maternal outcomes including: hypertension, diabetes, vaginal bleeding during pregnancy, etc., and neonatal outcomes including: Weight, premature birth, fetal distress during labor, etc. Finally, SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis, the data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, differences between variables were determined by the chi(2) test, and multivariate logistic regression. P<0.05 was considered significant. Result: The indicate of physical, sexual and emotional domestic violence was respectively 16.4%, 18.6% and 44.4% and the most important risk factors for violence were blood pressure (OR=8.92, 95%, CI=5.22-15.26, p<0.001), Preterm labor pain (OR=3.31, 95%, CI=1.99-5.51, p<0.001), Vaginal bleeding (OR=2.23, 95%, CI=1.46-3.39, p<0.001). Also preterm birth and low birth weight, and infant hospitalization in ICU have increased in women who have been subjected to violence in comparison to those who were not. Conclusions: The results indicated that the Indicate of violence in pregnant women is relatively high and due to the effects of violence on maternal and neonatal outcomes, the screening programs should be conducted in health centres to identify violence abused pregnant women to prevent adverse effects on the mother and fetus.