Comparative analyses of stressors experienced by rural low-income pregnant women experiencing intimate partner violence and those who are not.

Objective: To describe the daily lives of rural pregnant women who smoked during pregnancy, with a focus on their sources of stress and the compounding effects of intimate partner violence.

Design: A qualitative study using content analysis of research nurses' telephone logs from a large smoking cessation randomized controlled trial (N=695) in which 33% of the sample (n=227) experienced intimate partner violence in the past year.

Participants: Fifty pregnant women, 25 who had experienced intimate partner violence in the past year and 25 who had never experienced intimate partner violence, were randomly selected from those who received a nurse-delivered telephone intervention for smoking cessation (n=345). The mean age of the sample was 22 years, and the majority were White and living in a married-like relationship.

Results: Women experiencing intimate partner violence discussed certain stressors significantly more often than nonabused women. These stressors included finances, lack of social support, legal issues, transportation issues, and abuse by the intimate partner and others.

Conclusion: Health care providers need to recognize that intimate partner violence creates a stress, which can compound the stressors of pregnancy and poverty in rural areas. Offering these women a chance to talk about their lives can help them not only to locate necessary resources, but also to break down the barriers of isolation.