Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Midwifery at Massey University. Available for loan from the Turitea Campus library.

The purpose of this study was to answer the question of what the incidence of domestic violence would be in a cohort of pregnant Waikato women aged 18 years and older. Two hypotheses were included for testing: firstly, that domestic violence by itself during pregnancy is associated with lower birthweights; and secondly, that domestic violence in combination with substance use during pregnancy is associated with lower birthweights. Twelve midwives participated as interviewers and recruited 105 women to the study. Two research instruments were used: the Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS), a reliable five-question abuse-focused screen; and a questionnaire to collect demographic data and substance use habits. The AAS was administered in a personal interview by the Lead Maternity Carer and the questionnaire was self-administered. Data was to be collected from each participant on three occasions. However, the research tools were only administered three times in just over one-quarter of the cases. The reported incidence of domestic violence during pregnancy was found to be 7.8% in a Waikato cohort of 105 women aged 18 years and older. Women who disclosed historic abuse were significantly more likely to smoke, increasing the likelihood of having lower birthweight babies. Historic and recent abuse is strongly associated with abuse during pregnancy. Both hypotheses were rejected based on statistical t-tests. The multiple limitations of the study precluded the ability to extrapolate the findings nationally. This study merely opens the door on the issues of abuse during pregnancy and its sequelae in the New Zealand context.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT

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