Violence During Pregnancy Reached Into Antenatal Care and Early Infant Feeding

Violence during pregnancy is not only an injury exposure; it can affect whether women engage with care and how the early maternal-newborn pathway unfolds. Physical IPV during pregnancy was reported by 6.07% and was independently associated with lower adequate antenatal-care use, lower initiation of breastfeeding within one hour and lower exclusive breastfeeding in the first two days. The study makes violence relevant to maternal-service and early infant-feeding pathways and demonstrates the value of distinguishing violence during pregnancy from lifetime IPV.