Abstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) can include emotional, physical, or sexual violence. IPV during pregnancy is a preventable cause of injury and death with negative short- and long-term impacts for pregnant women, infants, and families. Using data from the 2016–2022 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System in nine U.S. jurisdictions, CDC examined associations between IPV during pregnancy among women with a recent live birth and the following outcomes: prenatal care initiation, health conditions during pregnancy (gestational diabetes, pregnancy-related hypertension, and depression), substance use during pregnancy, and infant birth outcomes. Overall, 5.4% of women reported IPV during pregnancy. Emotional IPV was most prevalent (5.2%), followed by physical (1.5%) and sexual (1.0%) IPV. All types were associated with delayed or no prenatal care; depression during pregnancy; cigarette smoking, alcohol use, marijuana or illicit substance use during pregnancy; and having an infant with low birth weight. Physical, sexual, and any IPV were associated with having a preterm birth. Physical IPV was associated with pregnancy-related hypertension. Evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies that address multiple types of IPV are important for supporting healthy parents and families because they might reduce pregnancy complications, depression and substance use during pregnancy, and adverse infant outcomes.
RESULTS
Overall, 5.4% of women reported any type of IPV during pregnancy: emotional (5.2%), physical (1.5%), and sexual (1.0%). The adjusted prevalence of depression, cigarette smoking, and marijuana or illicit substance use during pregnancy among women who reported emotional, physical, sexual, or any IPV type during pregnancy was approximately twice that of women who did not report each respective IPV type. Higher prevalences of delayed or no prenatal care and alcohol use during pregnancy were also found among women who reported emotional, physical, sexual, or any IPV type during pregnancy compared with women who did not report these IPV types. The prevalence of pregnancy-related hypertension among women who reported physical IPV during pregnancy was 1.30 times as high as that among those who did not, whereas the prevalence of gestational diabetes was 0.39 times lower than that among those not reporting physical IPV.
The prevalence of having an infant with low birth weight was higher among women who reported emotional, physical, sexual, or any IPV type than among those who did not report these IPV types. The prevalence of having a preterm birth was higher among women who reported physical, sexual, or any IPV type than it was among those who did not report these IPV types.
Steele-Baser M, Brown AL, D’Angelo DV, et al. Intimate Partner Violence and Pregnancy and Infant Health Outcomes — Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, Nine U.S. Jurisdictions, 2016–2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2024;73:1093–1098. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7348a1
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