title: Violence before pregnancy and the risk of violence during pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationships among different forms of violence before and during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous questionnaire (adapted NorAQ) was given to 1269 women after childbirth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 80% (n=1018). Different forms of violence were experienced by 46.9% of the women; 9.2% reported violence in pregnancy. Suffering from the consequences of violence was reported by 43.8% of the women; sexual (76.6%) and psychological (54.1%) ranked the highest. Past experience of any form of violence increased the risk of violence in pregnancy, violences experienced in adulthood even more than that in childhood [odds ratio (OR) 4.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.7-6.5 vs. OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2-2.9]. The onset of violence during pregnancy is rare. Violence was most frequently exerted by the intimate partner.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Healthcare systems have access to most women of reproductive age, thus they have the unique opportunity to identify and adequately manage violence against women and its consequences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Clinical Psychology Service, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Vislava
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Globevnik Velikonja
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Miha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lučovnik
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Premru Sršen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Leskošek
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Clinical Psychology Service, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Megie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krajnc
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Clinical Psychology Service, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Lucija
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pavše
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Verdenik
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Natasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tul
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot - 76100, Israel affiliated with the Hadassah-Hebrew University school of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel, Tel.: + 972-545-201789, Fax: + 972-89411944.
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Blickstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Health care abuse; intimate partner violence; physical abuse; pregnancy violence risk; psychological abuse; sexual abuse; violence