Integrative review regarding intimate partner violence in pregnancy

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) represents a violation of human rights and a public health problem that increasingly affects women of reproductive age. This integrative review analyzed the prevalence and factors associated with IPV during the gestational period, including 45 scientific productions from the databases of Health Sciences in General, spanning the years 2007 to 2012. The prevalence of IPV in pregnancy varied between 3% and 43%, according to the studied type of violence and study methods. IPV is associated with adverse effects to the mother’s health, such as stress, anxiety and depression, tobacco use, alcohol abuse, undesired pregnancy, abortion, abruptio placentae, preeclampsia and a late start to prenatal care, among others. The authors conclude that it is important to study IPV in the prenatal period and consider that nurses occupy a privileged position to monitor IPV during pregnancy and should include mistreated women in social and community support services.

Descriptors: Violence Against Women; Domestic Violence; Battered Women; Violence; Pregnancy.