Prevalence of domestic violence amongst pregnant women in Zaria, Nigeria

Objective: to document the prevalence, knowledge and perception of domestic violence (DV) amongst pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. Method: A Cross Sectional Study involving 178 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, using pretested structural questionnaire. Results: There were 178 respondents with a mean age of 26.7 ± 3.3 years (range i6-42 years). Seventy nine percent of the respondents received at least secondary school education. Twenty eight percent and 56% of the women had experienced and knowledge of DV respectively. Of the 50 respondents who experienced DV 36% were beaten up while 22% were forced to have sex. The spouse was the commonest culprit. Thirty-nine women felt DV was excusable under certain condition and 36% would keep DV secret. Conclusion: DV is common in Zaria and there is need for public education to change the perception of our women towards DV. Further studies are needed to document the effects of DV on pregnancy outcome in our setting