Most policy, research and clinical efforts to reduce maternal mortality focus on clinical risk factors and the quality of hospital-based care for pregnant people, but a new study examines maternal safety outside the clinical setting. Intimate partner violence (IPV) includes physical, emotional and sexual violence used to gain or maintain power and control and is a leading cause of maternal injury and death. Universal screening at health care visits is a recommended strategy for identifying and supporting victims. A recent study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH) measured rates of physical violence by an intimate partner among birthing people and examined rates of abuse screening before, during and after pregnancy.
Nearly half of pregnant people experiencing intimate partner violence are not screened before or after pregnancy
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