Intimate partner violence among postpartum women at a teaching hospital in Nigeria’s Federal Capital City: pattern and materno-fetal outcomes

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence is an important public health and human rights issue. Previous studies have considered intimate partner violence in pregnancy mainly among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics thereby missing out a few who may encounter this problem in late pregnancy or just before delivery. This study had the objective of ascertaining the prevalence, pattern of intimate partner violence, and associated materno-fetal outcomes. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study conducted between January 2017 and June 2017 among postpartum mothers at a Nigerian Teaching Hospital just before being discharged home. The abuse assessment score was adapted and used to interview women regarding possible intimate partner violence experiences within the past 1 year and during the pregnancy after obtaining written consent. RESULTS: Out of 349 postpartum women interviewed, 102/349 (29.2%) experienced intimate partner violence in the past 1 year, while 18/349 (5.2%) of intimate partner violence occurred in the index pregnancy. Sexual partners were the main perpetuators of intimate partner violence, 67/102 (65.7%), while 35/102 (34.3%) were by someone else other than their sexual partners. Among those abused in the current pregnancy, 10/18 (55.6%) were abused once and the remaining 8/18 (44.4%) were abused more than once. Intimate partner violence was associated with higher chances of cesarean section (p = 0.001), increased risk of lesser birth weight babies (p = 0.014), and maternal complications in pregnancy (p = 0.030). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of intimate partner violence in pregnancy in Abuja is high with associated poor materno-fetal outcomes. Enforcing existing legislations and screening for intimate partner violence during routine antenatal care may help reduce its prevalence and ensure a positive pregnancy experience for Nigerian women.