Citation

Samandari G, Martin SL, Schiro S. Trauma Violence Abuse 2010; 11(1): 42-54.

Affiliation

Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, USA. samandar@email.unc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1524838009358891

PMID

20093250

Abstract

Eighteen articles that examined the extent of homicide among pregnant and/or postpartum women in the United States are reviewed, documenting the studies' methods and findings. Results from proportional mortality analyses (studies that examined only deaths, rather than deaths within a larger population of living individuals) showed a modicum of support for the contention that homicide may account for a greater proportion of the deaths among pregnant/postpartum women than among other women of reproductive age. However, results from more comprehensive analyses that estimated homicide risks/rates (studies that examined deaths within the context of living populations) did not find any evidence to suggest that pregnant/postpartum women experience a greater risk/rate of homicide compared to other women of reproductive age. This difference in findings is discussed in light of the different methodological approaches.

Language: en