Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and associated factors among women attending antenatal care in Kabale Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda, 2016

Introduction : intimate Partner Violence (IPV) was considered as actual physical and or sexual violence during the current pregnancy. IPV is globally widespread; with 35% of women reported to have some form of IPV in their life time. IPV during pregnancy endangers both the mother and unborn baby and it is associated with increased risk of HIV infection, foetal death, and premature rupture of the membrane. With the paucity of data in the developing countries, this study sought to determine the prevalence of IPV, the associated factors, and explore the coping strategies women employ. Methods : we used a facility-based cross sectional study design to study pregnant women aged between 15 and 49 years attending antenatal care at Kabale hospital in (time??). A sample size of 211 pregnant women were enrolled in the study using systematic random sampling. 12 women were also purposively selected for in-depth interviews. The prevalence of IPV was analyzed descriptively to obtain frequencies and percentages. The factors associated were analyzed at bivariate level, followed by multivariable analyses, and factors were considered significant at p Results : women who never used alcohol before sex (AOR 0.02; 95% CI 0.003, 0.16), and women whose husbands never insisted on sex (AOR 0.06; 95% CI 0.02, 0.2) were less likely to be abused. Conversely, women who had ever been abused in their relationship (AOR 13.3; 95% CI 3.76, 47.09), and women with younger male partners were (AOR 5.7; 95% CI 0.89, 36.9) were more likely to be abused. Qualitatively reported factors associated with IPV were alcohol abuse, suspicion around infidelity, HIV infection and discordance, peer pressure, and duration of the pregnancy. The coping strategies used were seeking help, employment, running away, separation, feigning sickness, silence, separation, and tolerance. Conclusion : the factors associated with IPV require a change in the mindset of men and the entire society in order to instill respect for women. There is need for male involvement and implementation of the existing laws.