Are survivors of intimate partner violence more likely to experience complications around delivery? Evidence from a national Bangladeshi sample

ABSTRACT

Objectives To estimate (i) lifetime prevalence of physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) and (ii) associations of development of complications around delivery and IPV.

Methods We used data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey. The analyses were based on the responses of 2001 currently married women having a child younger than five years. Exposure was determined from maternal reports of physical and sexual IPV. Experience of complications around delivery was the main outcome variable of interest.

Results More than half (53%) of the women had experienced IPV. IPV of any type (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35–2.56) was associated with development of complications, as was physical IPV only (AOR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.14–2.33), sexual IPV only (AOR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.01–3.99), and both types of IPV (AOR: 2.43; 95% CI: 1.55–3.79). There was a dose-response relationship between the number of varieties of physical IPV suffered and complications developing.

Conclusions Experience of IPV is an important risk marker for the development of complications around delivery. Our findings underscore the calls for protecting women from all forms of physical and sexual violence from their husbands as part of the interventions to reduce the risk of complications supervening around delivery. They should be considered a public health research priority.

KEYWORDS:

• Pregnancy complications
• Intimate partner violence
• Bangladesh

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.