Association of Intimate Partner Violence Around the Time of Pregnancy With Postpartum Visits

To examine the association between experiencing emotional or physical intimate partner violence (IPV) around the time of pregnancy and having a postpartum visit.

We conducted a secondary analysis of data from 2016 to 2021 from PRAMS (Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System), a population-based surveillance system that collects self-reported information about experiences before, during, and after pregnancy among women with a recent live birth. We used multivariable logistic regression to estimate the prevalence of experiencing emotional or physical IPV around the time of pregnancy and associations with having a postpartum visit.

In seven jurisdictions with information on emotional IPV (n=30,333), 3.3% (95% CI, 3.0-3.6) of women with a recent live birth reported experiencing any emotional violence 12 months before pregnancy, during pregnancy, or after pregnancy; for these women, the prevalence of having a postpartum visit was 91.4% (95% CI, 90.9-91.9). Any emotional IPV was associated with lower odds of having a postpartum visit (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.74; 95% CI, 0.55-0.99). In 48 jurisdictions with information on physical IPV (n=224,957), 3.3% (95% CI, 3.2-3.5) of women with a recent live birth reported physical violence 12 months before pregnancy or during pregnancy; for these women, the prevalence of having a postpartum visit was 90.2% (95% CI, 90.0-90.4). Any physical IPV was associated with lower odds of having a postpartum visit (aOR 0.63; 95% CI, 0.57-0.69). Among women who had a postpartum visit, 34.2% (95% CI, 29.0-39.0) of those who experienced emotional IPV and 35.1% (95% CI, 33.2-37.1) of those who experienced physical IPV were not asked about IPV by a health care professional during the visit.

Experiencing emotional or physical IPV around the time of pregnancy was associated with lower odds of having a postpartum visit. Conducting screenings at various encounters such as telehealth, pediatric visits, or home health visits and ensuring availability of standard protocols and trainings for IPV screening and referrals may increase support for and identification of women experiencing IPV.