INCORPORATING ROUTINE SCREENING FOR HISTORY OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSEINTO WELL-WOMAN AND MATERNITY CARE

Despite a rapid expansion in the understanding of the incidence and ef fects of childhood sexual abuse in the mental health disciplines, heal th care disciplines have only begun to look at the effect of an abuse history on women's health. Little is known from research about its inf luence on a woman's gynecology care or childbearing experience. The li terature across disciplines advocates for routine screening for histor y of childhood sexual abuse. Asking about childhood sexual abuse will benefit women who have been abused and will help build a database from which to gain clinical knowledge about their care. This review presen ts clinical reasons to screen, discusses barriers and benefits, and em phasizes manageable ways to incorporate asking about childhood sexual abuse into practice.