Objectives: This study examined differences in mean total prenatal weight gain and percent inadequate prenatal weight gain between women who reported current and past histories of physical and/or sexual abuse and those who did not. Methods: Data were from the charts of 578 clients of an urban Midwestern prenatal care clinic. Multivariate regression analyses, stratified by maternal age, were conducted to examine the association of past and current abuse with prenatal weight gain. Results: For teens, there were no significant differences in mean total prenatal weight gain or percent inadequate prenatal weight gain by abuse category, although mean total gains were 7.0 lb higher for teens who reported a history of combined physical and sexual abuse compared with teens who reported no abuse (p=.07). For adults, mean total gains were 7.9 lb higher for those who reported current abuse (p=.01) and 5.2 lb higher for those who reported a history of sexual abuse (p=.08) compared with adults who reported no abuse. Adults who reported current abuse were significantly less likely to have inadequate prenatal weight gain (AOR=0.16, C.I. 0.02, 0.60; p=.02). Conclusions: Women who reported current or past abuse were not at higher risk for inadequate total prenatal weight gain. Surprisingly, current abuse was significantly related to lower risk for inadequate prenatal weight gain for adults. Half of the sample had excessive total prenatal weight gains and excessive gain was associated, but not significantly so, with current and past abuse.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Pregnancy, Battered Women
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.