To look at rates of homicide among pregnant and postpartum women in their state, Wallace and her colleagues turned to data from the Louisiana Department of Health. Even motor vehicle crashes (10.5 per 100,000) and other accidents (11.3 per 100,000) killed fewer pregnant women and new mothers than homicide. In that age group, the rate of homicide among pregnant and postpartum women was 16.2 per 100,000 as compared to 6.8 per 100,000 for those who were neither pregnant nor postpartum. “And generally that violence gets worse and it can escalate to homicide.”That’s why all pregnant women should be screened, Sharps said. “Any woman at any time can be a victim of partner violence,” she added.

Source: National Post February 03, 2020 18:33 UTC