AN Interdisciplinary research project has come out with preliminary findings that in Northern Tanzania one in every three women experiences violence perpetrated by their partners during pregnancy and many report signs of depression.
Presenting the preliminary findings at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo), Dr Geofrey Sigalla and Ms Jane Rogathi, said emotional violence was the most common type at 22 percent, followed by sexual violence at 15 percent while physical violence stood at six percent.
Mr Sigalla, a medical doctor, who along with Ms Rogathi are pursuing doctorate degrees, said the research carried out at Majengo and Pasua clinics, found signs of depression reported by 11.5 percent of women during pregnancy.
A similar situation was reported after delivery at 12 percent. The data was collected over a two-year period, from 2014 to 2016. The project included a study of 1,116 pregnant women, each interviewed four times — at enrollment, in the second trimester, at delivery and six weeks later.
The Impact of Violence on Reproductive Health in Tanzania and Vietnam (PAVE) Project is sponsored by Danish International Development Agency (Danida).
The research is undertaken in collaboration between Tanzanian, Danish and Vietnamese researchers from KCMUCo, Hanoi Medical University, University of Copenhagen, and University of Southern Denmark.
“Women exposed to physical violence during pregnancy had a fourfold risk of delivering a low birthweight child and a close four times increased risk of delivering a preterm baby in comparison with women who were not exposed to physical violence,” said the MD.
He observed that women with a history of obstetric complication who are exposed to violence in their present pregnancy have a more than six times risk of giving birth to a low birth-weight child and an almost six times risk of giving birth preterm when compared to women with a history of obstetric complications who are not exposed to violence.
Dr Sigalla said effects of such situation to women are physical trauma, depression, inadequate access to prenatal care, engaging in smoking and alcohol taking to find relief, but could also lead to miscarriages as well as abortion.
Ms Rogathi explained that depression during pregnancy is not recognized as a medical problem, but it affects so many women. She said young women in the age group of 18 to 24 years who were exposed to physical or sexual violence were especially vulnerable. Sixty-one babies born among the 1,116 mothers lost their lives, she noted.
“Women in this group reported signs of depression three to four times more often that women in the same age group who were not exposed to violence. Signs of depression during pregnancy were reported by 11.5 percent of the women while signs of depression after delivery were reported by 12 percent of the women,” she said.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is associated with a vast diversity of adverse health outcomes. Results from multi-country research project performed by World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that IPV is a common problem and women exposed to it could report health problems and suicidal thoughts.
PAVE project focuses on the intersections between intimate partner violence and women’s reproductive health, investigating particularly how violence affects the mental health of pregnant women and outcomes of their pregnancies.