DELAYED ENTRY INTO PRENATAL-CARE - EFFECT OF PHYSICAL VIOLENCE

Objective: To assess whether women who experienced physical violence b y their partner during the 12 months before delivery were more likely to delay entry into prenatal care than were women who had not experien ced physical violence. Methods: We analyzed data from the Pregnancy Ri sk Assessment Monitoring System. The sample included 27,836 women who delivered live infants during 1993-1994 in nine states and were survey ed 2-6 months after delivery. We calculated risk ratios and 95% confid ence intervals (CIs) to measure the association between physical viole nce within the 12 months before delivery and entry into prenatal care. Results: The prevalence of delayed entry into prenatal care (entering after the first trimester) was 18.1% and that of reported physical vi olence was 4.7%. Overall, women who experienced physical violence were 1.8 times more likely (95% CI 1.5, 2.1) to have delayed entry into pr enatal care than women who had not experienced such violence. When str atifying by selected maternal characteristics, this association was fo und only for groups of women who were 25 years of age or older or were of higher socioeconomic status. Conclusion: Older women and women of higher socioeconomic status who reported physical violence were more l ikely to delay entry into prenatal care than younger or less affluent women. ((C) 1997 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecolo gists.)