Prevalence and Determinants of Physical Violence and Its Impact on Birth Outcomes During Pregnancy in India: Evidence From a Nationally Representative Survey

Physical violence during pregnancy can have negative impact on health status of mother and fetus. Hence, the current study was done to determine the prevalence and determinants of physical violence and its impact on birth outcomes during pregnancy in India. We have analyzed the most recent National Family Health Survey 4 data (NFHS-4) gathered from Demographic Health Survey (DHS) program. Stratification (urban/rural) and clustering (villages/census enumeration blocks [CEBs]) in the sample design was accounted usingsvysetcommand. In total, 62,165 ever pregnant women aged 15 to 49 years were included. Prevalence of physical violence during pregnancy in India was 3.3%. Husband/partner (2.7%) was the person most commonly responsible. Women who were widowed/separated/divorced (aPR = 1.88), belonging to the poorest quantile (aPR = 2.32), women who were employed (aPR = 1.42), women in the Southern states (aPR = 3.24), and women whose husband/partner has lesser educational qualification (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 2.02) had significantly higher prevalence of physical violence during pregnancy (p< .001). Women who faced physical violence had significantly higher proportion of miscarriage (4.3%), abortion (3.3%), and stillbirth (1.1%) when compared with women who did not face any violence (4.1% had miscarriage, 1.8% had abortion, and 0.5% had stillbirth;p< .001). These findings show the importance of providing general supportive measures and strengthen the existing punitive legislations to prevent the violence during pregnancy.