Family Nursing

Biography

Biography: Kathryn Banks

Abstract

When a woman experiences abuse form her intimate partner during pregnancy it can have long lasting implications, for her own health and that of her unborn child. As nurses our understanding to date has focused on screening for abuse and safety planning. How pregnant women take on and define their roles as mothers in two parent family is affected by their experiences of intimate partner violence and abuse, this in turn influences how pregnant women feel about themselves as new mothers. By understanding the woman’s decision-making as told from her own lived experience; we can better understand the complex relationship between the woman and her child, and her partner (the father of her child). The aim was to develop an in depth understanding of pregnant women’s decision-making related to staying in or leaving an abusive intimate partner relationship. An interpretive description research design was used to generate a description of pregnant women’s experiences of deciding whether to stay in or leave an abusive intimate partner relationship during pregnancy. Individual interviews were conducted with women who were 18 years of age and older who had experienced intimate partner violence and abuse during a previous pregnancy. Women were asked to reflect on their experience of making decisions about staying in or leaving an abusive intimate partner relationship during pregnancy. The research design examined the position of women within their experiences, the diversity, as well as shared patterns of women’s experiences and the contextual factors that shaped the women’s choices and actions.