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"In Louisiana, where Markitha Sinegal lived, homicide is the second leading cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women. Only drug overdoses take more lives.
...National-level data on the phenomenon is difficult to find, as it’s often buried in individual state reports on maternal mortality or in databases inaccessible to the public. Dr. Maeve Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona, has put a special focus on the analysis and publication of data on pregnancy-associated homicides and provided some of the data for this story. According to Dr. Wallace, from 2018 through 2022, at least 837 women were killed during pregnancy or within the following year, although because the pregnancy checkbox is new and not always consistently used, that number is most likely an undercount. “There's tons of funding and attention at the federal level for maternal mortality,” Dr. Wallace said, referring to obstetric causes of death. “My goal in looking at homicide is that it’s happening just as often.”
And though homicides aren’t generally classified as pregnancy-related, the pregnancy often has played a part. In these cases, more often than not, a husband or boyfriend is the killer.
The stress and emotional turmoil of a pregnancy — especially an unexpected one — can exacerbate an already abusive relationship. According to experts on intimate partner violence, the abuse almost always precedes the pregnancy.
Domestic violence is rooted in power and control, and pregnancy is a tether that can shift a relationship’s dynamic. Once partners are tied together by a child on the horizon, abusers can feel a greater degree of impunity to escalate their behavior. Suddenly, there are not just emotional ties, but legal and financial ones as well. And just as suddenly, as a pregnant woman, it becomes much harder to leave."
www.nytimes.com
Startling.
...National-level data on the phenomenon is difficult to find, as it’s often buried in individual state reports on maternal mortality or in databases inaccessible to the public. Dr. Maeve Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona, has put a special focus on the analysis and publication of data on pregnancy-associated homicides and provided some of the data for this story. According to Dr. Wallace, from 2018 through 2022, at least 837 women were killed during pregnancy or within the following year, although because the pregnancy checkbox is new and not always consistently used, that number is most likely an undercount. “There's tons of funding and attention at the federal level for maternal mortality,” Dr. Wallace said, referring to obstetric causes of death. “My goal in looking at homicide is that it’s happening just as often.”
And though homicides aren’t generally classified as pregnancy-related, the pregnancy often has played a part. In these cases, more often than not, a husband or boyfriend is the killer.
The stress and emotional turmoil of a pregnancy — especially an unexpected one — can exacerbate an already abusive relationship. According to experts on intimate partner violence, the abuse almost always precedes the pregnancy.
Domestic violence is rooted in power and control, and pregnancy is a tether that can shift a relationship’s dynamic. Once partners are tied together by a child on the horizon, abusers can feel a greater degree of impunity to escalate their behavior. Suddenly, there are not just emotional ties, but legal and financial ones as well. And just as suddenly, as a pregnant woman, it becomes much harder to leave."
Opinion | The Killings of Young Mothers
For women under 25, getting pregnant more than doubles their risk of homicide.
Startling.
