UNCOVERING ABUSE IN THE PREGNANT WOMAN

Course overview

Pregnant women are more likely to experience abuse than hypertension, gestational diabetes or any other antepartum complication. As many as 19% of pregnant women report being abused sometime in the year before or during pregnancy or after delivering a child, and women abused during pregnancy are three times more likely to die as the result of homicide. Because 96% of all pregnant women seek prenatal care, healthcare providers as a team are presented with the opportunity to identify and to assist in breaking the cycle of abuse during what may be the only time an abused woman seeks out healthcare.