Domestic Violence during pregnancy as risk factors for stress and depression: The experience of women attending ANC at atertiary care hospital in India. (7th February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mahapatro, Meerambika; Nayar, Poonam; Roy, Sudeshna; Jadhav, Ashwini; Panchkaran, Suruchi
• Is Part Of: Women & health. Volume 62:Number 2(2022)
• Page Start: 124
• Page End: 134
• Publication Date: 2022-02-07
• Subjects: depression -- domestic violence -- hospital -- India -- pregnancy -- stress; Women -- Health and hygiene -- Periodicals; Women -- Health and hygiene -- United States -- Periodicals; Women's health services -- Periodicals; Gynecology -- Periodicals; Women in medicine -- Periodicals; 613.0424405
• DOI: 10.1080/03630242.2022.2029670
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0363-0242

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Domestic Violence (DV) during the antenatal period has major effects on the mother and pregnancy outcome and is associated with stress and mental health problems. The paper aims to examine the association of DV with stress and depression (S&D) during the first trimester of pregnancy attending antenatal care (ANC) at the Lok Nayak (LN) hospital, a tertiary healthcare hospital in New Delhi, India and address the response of the women. A mixed method was used to gain an in-depth understanding of the participants. A total of 921 women were screened from November 2018 to March 2020 using standard tools for the presence of incidents of DV and S&D. 517 pregnant women with up to 20 weeks of pregnancy who met the inclusion criteria and came to receive ANC at the facility were considered. The prevalence of DV in various forms (psychological, physical and sexual) during pregnancy (49.5%), stress (82%), and depression (33%) have an association that reflects the importance of acknowledging both of them as having a significant implication for the health of pregnant women in India. Analysis suggest that women who experienced DV during pregnancy are 4.9 times and 5.3 times more likely to suffer from stress and depressive symptoms than non-victims of DV respectively. The strong association reinforces the need to conduct routine screening during pregnancy to identify and respond to women with DV and S&D.