Prevalence of Domestic Violence among Obstetric Patients and Maternal Outcome

Abstract

Background: Domestic Violence (DV) against women is a global issue and is recognized by United Nations as any act of gender-based violence against women. It is estimated that 736 million women are globally subject to such violence in their lifetime. Objective: To determine the frequency of domestic violence among pregnant women and their adverse maternal outcomes in Pakistan. Methods: All pregnant women aged 15-49 years in the third trimester attending Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi were enrolled in the study after informed consent. Selected women were interviewed and followed till delivery. The interview encompassed close-ended questionnaires in 5 sections with yes or no options. Items comprised questions on physical, emotional/verbal, financial, psychological, and sexual abuse to assess domestic violence. Pregnancy intendedness was evaluated, and the adverse maternal outcome was assessed at delivery. Results: A total of 383 women were included with a mean age of 26.73 ±5.28 years. 175 (45.7%) were subjected to some form of DV during pregnancy. Parity (p<0.001), marital status (p<0.001), ethnicity (p=0.005), substance abuse by husband (p<0.001) and monthly income of husband (p=0.002) were significantly different among women with and without DV. Among the 175 women who suffered from DV, 112 (64.0%) experienced adverse events, but among women who did not suffer from DV, 116 (55.8%) had adverse events (p=0.102). Adverse events including antepartum and postpartum haemorrhage (p=0.004), unintended pregnancy (p=0.013), pre-term labour (p<0.001) and stillbirths and weight >4000 g (p<0.001) were significantly different among women reporting DV and not reporting DV. Conclusion: Violence during pregnancy is common in our society and verbal, emotional and psychological violence are the comments type. A high frequency of adverse maternal and foetal outcomes was noted in these women.