Stability of violence reporting by mothers during the postpartum period

BACKGROUND: Screening is an important first step to reducing the effects of violence during the prenatal and postpartum periods. However, little is known about consistency of violence reporting during these periods. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this analysis was to investigate the reliability of maternal reports of violence during the postpartum period. METHOD: The study recruited mothers from a large hospital following live birth. Participants completed surveys within one week of giving birth and three months later. Physical and emotional abuse was measuring using four items. Victimization was categorized as occurring at any point during the lifetime and/or during pregnancy. Using Kappa's coefficient, we assessed the reliability of participant report at baseline and three-months. RESULTS: Eighty-one women were included in this analysis. Almost 21% (n=17) of women reported lifetime experience of abuse at baseline or follow-up. Of participants who reported lifetime abuse, only 41% (n=7) reported abuse at both baseline and follow-up. Among participants who reported lifetime abuse at only one data collection point, an equal number (29%,n=5) reported abuse at baseline or follow-up (kappa=0.51). Approximately 5% (n=4) of participants reported being “slapped, kicked, or otherwise physically hurt” during pregnancy. No participants reported being physically hurt during pregnancy at both data collection points. Among participants who reported being physically hurt during pregnancy at only one data collection point, more participants reported being physically hurt during pregnancy at baseline (75%,n=3) than at follow-up (25%,n=1,kappa=-0.02). CONCLUSION: Given the limited reliability of violence reporting, our findings suggest a need for multiple screenings following birth.