One In Six Firearm-Related Homicides and Suicides In Women Found To Be Related to Pregnancy

About one in six intentional firearm-related deaths in women of childbearing age occur during or shortly after pregnancy, astudy in theAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine has found.Naima T. Joseph, M.D., M.P.H., of Boston Medical Center and colleagues analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ’s National Violent Death Reporting System from 2008 to 2019. Women aged 15 to 44 years who died by suicide or homicide involving a firearm were included. The researchers defined pregnancy-associated deaths as deaths that occurred during pregnancy or within one year of childbirth.Over the study period, there were 4,204 firearm-related homicides and deaths by suicide: 2,098 were homicides, of which 22% were associated with pregnancy; and 2,106 were deaths by suicide, of which 11% were associated with pregnancy. Women and girls who died by pregnancy-associated homicide had an average age of 22.2 years, and 54.8% were Black; the average age of those who died by pregnancy-associated suicide was 28.5 years, and 80.5% were White.The researchers also found the following notable differences where relevant circumstances were known:83.5% of pregnancy-associated suicides occurred in a metropolitan county versus 72.8% of suicides unrelated to pregnancy.61.6% of pregnancy-associated homicides were related to ongoing conflict with or violence by a current or former partner versus 51.9% among homicides unrelated to pregnancy.4.2% of pregnancy-associated deaths by suicide o...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: firearm homicide interpersonal violence partner violence pregnancy public health suicide Source Type: research