Interventions for women who report domestic violence during and after pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic literature review

Daley, Diandra, McCauley, Mary ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1446-0625 and van den Broek, Nynke ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8523-2684 (2020) 'Interventions for women who report domestic violence during and after pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic literature review'. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, Vol 20, Issue 1.

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Abstract

Background
Domestic violence is a leading cause of social morbidity and may increase during and after pregnancy. In high-income countries screening, referral and management interventions are available as part of standard maternity care. Such practice is not routine in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where the burden of social morbidity is high.
Methods
We systematically reviewed available evidence describing the types of interventions, and/or the effectiveness of such interventions for women who report domestic violence during and/or after pregnancy, living in LMIC. Published and grey literature describing interventions for, and/or effectiveness of such interventions for women who report domestic violence during and/or after pregnancy, living in LMIC was reviewed. Outcomes assessed were (i) reduction in the frequency and/or severity of domestic violence, and/or (ii) improved physical, psychological and/or social health. Narrative analysis was conducted.
Results
After screening 4818 articles, six studies were identified for inclusion. All included studies assessed women (n = 894) during pregnancy. Five studies reported on supportive counselling; one study implemented an intervention consisting of routine screening for domestic violence and supported referrals for women who required this. Two studies evaluated the effectiveness of the interventions on domestic violence with statistically significant decreases in the occurrence of domestic violence following counselling interventions (488 women included). There was a statistically significant increase in family support following counselling in one study (72 women included). There was some evidence of improvement in quality of life, increased use of safety behaviours, improved family and social support, increased access to community resources, increased use of referral services and reduced maternal depression. Overall evidence was of low to moderate quality.
Conclusions
Screening, referral and supportive counselling is likely to benefit women living in LMIC who experience domestic violence. Larger-scale, high-quality research is, however, required to provide further evidence for the effectiveness of interventions. Improved availability with evaluation of interventions that are likely to be effective is necessary to inform policy, programme decisions and resource allocation for maternal healthcare in LMIC.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 310 Maternal welfare WA Public Health > Statistics. Surveys > WA 950 Theory or methods of medical statistics. Epidemiologic methods WQ Obstetrics > Pregnancy > WQ 200 General works
Faculty: Department:	Clinical Sciences & International Health > International Public Health Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-020-2819-0
Depositing User:	Stacy Murtagh
Date Deposited:	20 Mar 2020 15:51
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2020 15:51
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/14035

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