Criminal justice intimate partner victimization before, during and after pregnancy among birthing parents screened postnatally by public health nurses

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global problem, disproportionately affecting women. Pregnancy offers a unique opportunity to identify IPV. This population-based data linkage study includes residents of Manitoba, Canada who gave birth from 2006-2020 and were eligible for the Families First Screening (FFS) (n=194,280). The FFS is a universal screening tool completed typically within one week postpartum by public-health nurses, which includes questions on current history of relationship violence and distress, including pregnancy. We assessed the associations of these responses with criminal justice identified IPV (JIIPV) two years before through two years after pregnancy (2004-2022) using logistic and multinomial regressions models. The prevalence of JIIPV at any time around pregnancy among birthing parents without distress/violence during pregnancy was 36.6 per 1,000 pregnancies. Compared to them, those who reported both violence and relationship distress had a prevalence of 474.5/1000 [Odds Ratio (OR): 23.8; 95%CI: 21.4, 26.4, and adjusted OR (AOR): 5.4; 95%CI: 4.8, 6.1]. Those who did not respond to distress/violence questions and those who did not participate in the FFS had also higher prevalence of JIIPV. Observed patterns persisted before, during and after pregnancy. Screening by public health nurses identifies families seriously affected by JIIPV around pregnancy.