Impact of domestic violence against pregnant women in Minia governorate, Egypt: a cross sectional study

BackgroundDomestic violence is a common problem that is related to many serious short-term and long-term health hazards around the world.MethodsDuring obtaining the medical history from the participants, the questions used to assess the abuse were derived from the widely used Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS). Potential risk factors including a variety of socio-demographic and reproductive health-relation indicators were assessed. The influence of violence on the pregnancy outcome was determined by the continuous follow-up till giving birth.Results513 pregnant women were included. The prevalence of violence among them was 50.8%. The prevalence of physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse was 30.2, 20, 41.7, and 45.4% respectively. Exposure to violence during pregnancy had significant effects on the women and their pregnancy outcome in the form of development of vaginal infection (P-value =0.036), vaginal bleeding (P-value=0.008), preterm labour (P-value=0.003), premature rupture of membrane (P-value=0.001).ConclusionViolence against pregnant women in Minia Governorate, Egypt is common especially emotional violence and it has many adverse effects on the women and their pregnancy outcome. One of the most important risk factors is the fear of the husband which makes violence a continuous vicious circle.

Automated summary

The study indicates that violence against pregnant women in Minia Governorate, Egypt is common, especially emotional violence, and has adverse effects on women and their pregnancy outcomes. Various forms of violence, such as emotional, physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, are prevalent, leading to complications during pregnancy like vaginal infection, vaginal bleeding, preterm labor, and premature rupture of membrane. The fear of the husband is identified as a significant risk factor, perpetuating a cycle of violence.