The relationship between violence during pregnancy and low birth weight: a meta-analysis study

Violence during pregnancy affects both mother and fetus. This study was performed to investigate the relationship between physical, sexual and psychological violence during pregnancy and low birth weight in the world as a meta-analysis.
Methods & Materials: This study is a meta-analysis that was performed on articles published in Persian and English languages from the beginning of 1995 to the end of 2015. Articles were extracted by searching in the databases of Scopus, Medline, EMBASE, Pubmed, Web of Science, Google scholar, Science Direct, Irandoc, Magiran, Medlib, and SID using key words of violence during pregnancy, low birth weight, physical, sexual and psychological violence and their compounds. The results of studies were combined using a random effects model in the meta-analysis. The heterogeneity of studies was evaluated using the I2 index and meta-regression, and the data analysis was performed using STATA software v.11.2 and SPSS software v.16.
Of 254 found articles, 16 relevant articles with the sample number of 117287 people were included in the study. The results of meta-analysis showed that physical OR:1.61 (CI95%:2.04–2.28), psychological OR:1.26 (CI95%:1.02–1.56) and sexual violence OR:1.26 (CI95%:1.02–1.56) during pregnancy, lead to an increase in the rate of low birth weight infants in the exposed mothers.
Physical, psychological and sexual violence during pregnancy lead to an increase in the rate of low birth weight infants in the exposed mothers. Therefore, maternal screening and counseling by trained general practitioners and professionals before and during pregnancy are recommended.