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Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women is the range of sexual,
psychological and physical coercive acts used against adult and adolescent women by
current or former male intimate partners (CDC, 2010). When this occurs in
pregnancy, it directly or indirectly affects the mother leading to adverse maternal and
perinatal outcomes. Locally, the prevalence of IPV in pregnancy (IPVp) is 37%.
Determining the risk factors of IPVp would make it easier to identify affected
pregnant women. It is also necessary to find out whether adverse perinatal outcomes
occur in cases of IPVp.
Objectives: To determine the prevalence, the types, the factors associated with and
the perinatal outcomes of IPVp among women giving birth at Moi Teaching and
Referral Hospital (MTRH).
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 369 women who had just given birth
and were admitted in the postnatal ward at MTRH. They were recruited using
systematic sampling. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire which was
modified from the WHO violence against women Tool. The analysis was done using
the R Core Team 2017. Categorical variables were summarized as frequencies and
percentages whereas continuous variables as mean, standard deviation, median and
interquartile ranges. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between
risk factors and the occurrence of IPVp.
Results: The prevalence of IPVp was 37.1%. Stalking, physical, sexual and
psychological IPVp were identified with psychological violence emerging as the most
prevalent affecting 73.7% of the victims. There was an association between IPVp and
partner alcohol and drug intake (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.19), partner’s low level
of income, partner not being the spouse, history of exposure to violence while young
(aOR 3.02) and a previous history of IPV (aOR 25.77). Women who were exposed to
physical IPVp were more likely to give birth to children who had low 5-minute
APGAR scores (p = 0.014). There was no difference in age (p = 0.836), marital status
(p = 0.529) and the type of employment (p = 0.914) between those who experienced
IPVp and those who did not.
Conclusion: IPVp was prevalent (37.1%) in this study. The types of IPVp identified
were physical, sexual, stalking and psychological with the most common being the
psychological type. Affected pregnant women were more likely to have been exposed
to violence while young, to have experienced IPV previously, to have partners who
were not their spouses, who took alcohol or drugs and who had a low level of income.
When physical IPVp occurred, it was more likely to be associated with low APGAR
scores.
Recommendations: Pregnant women should be screened for IPVp. Policies to effect
screening and identification of these women should be formulated to aid in curtailing
the burden of IPVp. There is a need to conduct further studies to assess the causal
inferences of physical IPVp and low APGAR scores. |
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