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Family violence
New Zealand has one the highest rate of intimate-partner violence in the developed world. You will cover this topic in detail during your formal learning weeks. Sadly, pregnancy and postpartum are high risk times for family violence. All pregnant women should be screened for family violence and questioned about their personal safety at home, as well as the safety of any children in the home. Remember, screening women for family violence should be done by a trained health professional and it would not be appropriate for you to do as medical students. If a woman offers a history of family violence during your history taking, you must escalate this to the responsible heath professionals.
Violence during pregnancy has risks of:
- Maternal mental health problems
- Miscarriage
- Antepartum haemorrhage
- Placental abruption
- Preterm rupture of membranes
- SGA
- Preterm labour
- Low birth weight
- Fetal fractures
- Ruptured uterus, liver, or spleen
There are also many long term health complications associated with family violence. If you want to better understand the prevalence of family violence in pregnancy, and its impact on women across the reproductive spectrum, the following article is highly recommended:
Fanslow J. Intimate partner violence and women's reproductive health. Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine. 2017;27(5):148-57.
In 2016, the Ministry of Health released their Family Violence Assessment and Intervention Guideline which can provide more detail if you are interested on how to enquire about family violence, making risk assessments, safety planning etc.
