Postpartum, also a risk period for domestic violence

In the first European study of its kind the prevalence of physical and sexual violence postpartum was estimated in a random sample of 207 Swedish born women attending antenatal clinics.

The Severity of Violence Against Women scale (SVAW) was used to measure the frequency of threats and severity of physical and sexual abuse by means of a postal questionnaire covering a period of 8 weeks postpartum. In the sample of women the same research tool had been employed during the preceding pregnancy in the form of a personal interview.

The non-response rate was 75/207 (36%) with a small difference in the rates of drop-out between women who had been abused or not abused during their pregnancy. Of the 132 women answering the questionnaire, 32 reported threats, physical or sexual abuse postpartum. Of those 32 women, 22 (69%) stated that they had not been subject to abuse previously. Women who were abused postpartum were older and were married to a higher extent than those who had been abused prior to and during pregnancy.

Abuse does not appear to be restricted to a specific socio-demographic group of women or to a specific period in a woman's reproductive life. Therefore, questions to women regarding both threats and physical violence should be part of all clinical practices.