Mothers subjected to intimate partner violence are at high risk of poor physical and mental health even years after it stops, an Australian study suggests.

The research team, from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, set out to investigate the health of women exposed to domestic violence up to a decade after their first child. 

They recruited some 1500 first-time mothers (at mean of 15 weeks’ gestation) from six public hospitals in Melbourne between 2003 and 2005 and followed them for 10 years.

Exposure to physical and emotional intimate partner violence (IPV) was measured through a questionnaire at one, four and 10 years postpartum, and physical and mental health at 10 years post-partum.