Morris - prenatal violence screening

Well it gets a bit complicated because any violence under 18 falls under the Child Protection Act, so whenever; we always have a responsibility to report any violence towards a teen. We ask as part of our first prenatal visit whether they’ve been exposed to domestic violence or child sexual abuse earlier on. And we make sure they know that they can talk to us if something is happening and if we do hear about any sexual or physical abuse to an adolescent then it would fall under the child protection reporting regulations for Manitoba. So at that point in time, either through Child and Family Services or through the Child Protection Centre, we do inform them.

It usually doesn’t disrupt the care relationship that we have with them, but it is a bit more complicated than when you’re dealing with domestic violence or sexual abuse in the adult pregnant population. Pregnancy is actually a time when violence, especially if it’s domestic violence, it actually increases so we do have to watch for it. Our best estimate in our core area teen/adolescent pregnancy clinic is that it is probably about 25% of our patients have a current or past history of domestic or sexual abuse in their lives. And what we really have to be aware of is when there’s current abuse ongoing so that we can help protect them, but it’s a challenge.