Trapped by Motherhood: The Reproductive Coercion to Homicide Pipeline

By Monica Amorosi, LMHC-D, NCC, CCTP
Clinically edited by Natali Morfin, LCSW 

Set off warning: dialogue of intimate accomplice violence, murder

The “Hidden” Threat of the Perinatal Yr

Weak issues will not be weak, however they want safety as a result of they carry danger. Persons are particularly weak throughout the perinatal interval, from being pregnant by way of the primary 12 months postpartum. And this weak time turns into one thing that may be simply exploited. If we don’t defend folks throughout this time, we depart them uncovered to hurt. 

The story of the perinatal expertise is commonly one in all magnificence, development, and connection. And people issues are very actual. However these issues can solely exist when the perinatal individual is protected. Even needed, desired pregnancies include danger. Bodily limitations are frequent, and restoration after beginning could make it virtually unimaginable for some folks to maneuver round comfortably. Sleep loss is predicted, and hormonal modifications are linked to a variety of disruptions and discomforts. As soon as the child is born, most focus, medical and social, turns away from mother and onto child, leaving her at escalated danger of going unseen. If we ignore the dangers of this expertise, the gorgeous act of giving beginning can put her vulnerable to being killed. 

Whereas the true medical actuality of labor and postpartum are nonetheless understudied and undermanaged, it’s simpler to give attention to medical dangers like preeclampsia or beginning accidents when assessing the weak actuality of this time. However generally, the largest hazard is at residence. It may be arduous to just accept, however a father will be each the dad or mum of a needed baby and the principle menace to the mom. 

Our nation says it values household, however our insurance policies reveal what we really prioritize. Our funding selections present how a lot we perceive copy and bodily autonomy. How a lot we see the true experiences of individuals throughout the perinatal interval. Sadly, our insurance policies don’t mirror the complete nature of simply how violent the house will be for a girl rising a toddler. When we don’t defend moms from home violence, it reveals we care extra concerning the thought of motherhood than the truth of it. 

Violence throughout being pregnant is frequent, with about 6-20% of ladies with a stay beginning reporting any type of IPV throughout their being pregnant (Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, 2021; Pennsylvania Coalition In opposition to Home Violence, n.d.). A couple of in three ladies within the U.S. will expertise bodily violence, sexual violence, or stalking by an intimate accomplice of their lifetime. That danger seems to have grown much more because the Dobbs resolution. One examine discovered that IPV rose 10% in counties the place abortion entry grew to become extra restricted in 2022, including a minimum of 9,000 further incidents in states with set off bans (Dave et al., 2025). 

When survivors search acceptable help, 75% go to mates or household first (Davies et al., 2023). That is partly as a result of screening is inconsistent all through the perinatal interval. One examine explored the birthing expertise of ladies in 42 states between 2016 and 2019 and located that, amongst these reporting experiences of IPV, virtually 60% weren’t screened earlier than getting pregnant, 27% weren’t screened whereas pregnant, and 48% weren’t screened after giving beginning (Kozhimannil et al., 2023). We can’t assist ladies who will not be recognized. 

The highest causes of maternal dying in America are linked to intimate accomplice violence (IPV). Overdose and violence (murder and suicide) every happen greater than obstetric causes of dying, accounting for over 25% of all maternal deaths between 2018-2023 (Azad et al., 2026). Research have discovered that accomplice issues, together with violence, have been a typical precipitating think about feminine suicides and that cumulative experiences of violence raised the chance of drug overdose amongst ladies. In 2018-2019, the chance of being killed was 16% greater for pregnant folks (Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, 2021), which rose to a 35% greater danger by 2020 (Wallace, 2022). Intimate accomplice violence is 5x extra prone to result in dying for the feminine accomplice than the male accomplice (Smith, 2022). The overwhelming majority of those ladies are killed by a gun. 

Researchers have arrived at a startling conclusion. Pregnant and postpartum ladies in america usually tend to die underneath situations of abuse than from any medical obstetric complication (Shiny et al., 2024). 

In deadly circumstances, abuse began earlier than being pregnant roughly 2/3 of the time (Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, 2021). It typically intensifies throughout being pregnant, and analysis reveals this escalation tends to persist into the postpartum interval slightly than easing after childbirth (Wallace et al., 2021). This escalation can predict dying, and probably the most harmful occasions are when somebody tries to go away and when she first declares the being pregnant (WomensLaw.org, 2025). The postpartum interval carries its personal ongoing danger as a result of additionally it is probably the most isolating time for many mothers. Contact with others drops off simply when it’s wanted most. 

Being pregnant doesn’t need to be deliberate as management to serve that goal. She works much less, is much less social, and the impartial life she had exterior the house shrinks to hours tied to the child. He doesn’t need to orchestrate any of the isolation to learn from it. However this time can also be extremely nerve-racking for dad, whether or not the coercive accomplice is prepared or not. Sleep deprivation, new financial stress, and the sheer stress of a new child are sufficient to push an already abusive accomplice over the sting. 

When Being pregnant Itself Turns into the Weapon

We perceive violence that doubtless will get worse due to the stress throughout this time. Whereas stress could make issues extra risky, this view misses conditions the place being pregnant itself is used as a instrument for abuse and management. In some relationships, being pregnant isn’t solely a set off for abuse; it will also be the abuse itself. 

There may be an rising understanding of how being pregnant can be utilized to maintain an abuser linked to his sufferer. For some abusers, having a toddler creates a long-lasting bond that doesn’t finish even when the connection does. Survivor studies and perpetrator knowledge present that some males forestall being pregnant as a result of they don’t want the duty, whereas others pressure or stress being pregnant as a strategy to management and lure their accomplice (Bagwell-Grey et al., 2021). Stopping being pregnant is about avoiding a burden, however forcing one is about preserving management. 

One examine interviewed survivors to higher perceive the psyche of abusers, and 4 themes stood out. The primary was that solely his wants mattered; the second was that he might use the “masks” of public fatherhood to cover his true self; and the third was that, as soon as a toddler was born, he used it as a weapon of ongoing management. The fourth was that “her physique was his” (Tarzia & McKenzie, 2024). This isn’t remarkably completely different from different types of management, like taking up her cash, friendships, or time. It serves the identical operate of management, but it surely focuses on her physique. Forcing being pregnant is efficient as a result of it makes her bodily, financially, and emotionally dependent proper when she is least capable of defend herself or depart. 

The prevalence of reproductive coercion in america ranges from 5% to 21% of ladies with a stay beginning (Bagwell-Grey et al., 2021). Making somebody keep it up a being pregnant she doesn’t need is a type of violence. It takes away her management over her physique, her consolation, and her selections about her future. A accomplice who does that is exhibiting a deep lack of respect for her as an individual. When communities ignore these issues, abuse turns into a part of collective tradition. 

As a result of household constructing is commonly non-public in our society, it’s simple for abusers to benefit from it. For this reason reproductive coercion is a novel type of interpersonal violence. In america, if an abuser will get his accomplice pregnant, he can acquire full management of her, generally with assist from the legislation. 

Jacquelyn Campbell’s Hazard Evaluation asks whether or not a girl has been harmed whereas pregnant, but it surely predates the identification of reproductive coercion as a definite concern. It measures the identical core behaviors: a accomplice’s management over their sufferer. Campbell’s analysis reveals that the majority femicides comply with escalating abuse, with leaving, jealousy, and prior violence being key dying predictors (Campbell et al., 2025). An abuser keen to override their accomplice’s will has already demonstrated a excessive tolerance for violence, and compelled being pregnant is a long-lasting strategy to override somebody’s will. 

How Coverage and Tradition Reinforce the Pipeline

There’s a connection between areas that prohibit reproductive healthcare and rising charges of maternal murder. Louisiana, which has a number of the strictest reproductive legal guidelines, has a maternal murder charge greater than 4 occasions greater than New York’s (Shiny et al., 2025). States that prohibit abortion entry have additionally seen peripartum murder charges go up, whereas this pattern isn’t true for peripartum males, suggesting one thing particular is concentrating on pregnant and postpartum ladies (American School of Surgeons, 2024). 

In some states, additionally it is tough for pregnant folks to acquire a divorce, which might trigger them to stay with somebody who’s harmful, and in these states, the speed of homicides related to being pregnant is greater. Legal guidelines that acknowledge fetal personhood can flip a medical resolution she makes to flee her abuser right into a authorized danger. In consequence, these legal guidelines maintain ladies in houses the place they may be harmed (Boyle et al., 2024, as cited in Weissert, 2025). 

These insurance policies affect our beliefs about what makes a “good mom,” and lots of of those beliefs assist reproductive coercion. Our tradition typically helps abusers by spreading concepts like good moms sacrifice all the pieces, they don’t break up households, motherhood means giving up your personal wants, and youngsters at all times want each dad and mom. These messages could make ladies really feel like they don’t have any management over their our bodies, and so they can’t depart somebody who’s hurting them. 

In a tradition that encourages self-rescue, we misunderstand why victims keep in abusive relationships, growing the probability they go unseen. Many face critical dangers in the event that they attempt to get assist, particularly throughout the perinatal interval. Leaving an abusive accomplice can enhance the chance of being killed. We shouldn’t assume that simply because somebody “stays” that they’re doing so with full consent. Supporting moms means altering how we speak about motherhood to incorporate their proper to security, even when which means defending themselves from the daddy of their baby. 

If any of this has been your expertise, you management your physique. You resolve what occurs to it, what goes on inside it, whether or not you’re prepared for the duty of a kid, whether or not and while you use contraception, and whether or not and when you’ve got intercourse. You’re allowed to say no. You’re allowed to disappoint somebody. You get to make these choices, and when you can completely work by way of them with a accomplice performing in good religion, you by no means need to commerce your bodily autonomy simply to keep away from hurt. 

Figuring out the Indicators and What We Can Do

It’s arduous to acknowledge these abuse patterns if you find yourself residing by way of them, so others want to assist. Anybody locally can assist a perinatal individual by serving to her make powerful choices with out added judgment. This begins by speaking about reproductive coercion in clear phrases and asking how she really feels about being pregnant and having a child proper now. 

Some warning indicators related to reproductive coercion embrace a accomplice who insists on being current for the complete go to and solutions questions directed on the affected person, studies of tampered or lacking contraception, requests for a technique she will be able to disguise from a accomplice, ambivalence or concern, slightly than clear emotions a couple of being pregnant, and nervousness that spikes round a accomplice’s presence. ACOG recommends screening for reproductive coercion utilizing direct questions similar to “Has your accomplice ever tried to get you pregnant while you didn’t wish to be pregnant?” and “Does your accomplice assist your resolution about when or if you wish to grow to be pregnant?” and encourages utilizing discreet, much less detectable contraceptive strategies similar to IUDs and implants (ACOG Committee on Well being Look after Underserved Girls, 2013). 

This dynamic is documented however not often taught, screened for, and even named. When we don’t speak about it, moms typically can’t perceive what is occurring to them. Coercive management works by altering what somebody sees as regular. After being compelled right into a being pregnant as soon as, it turns into simpler for the abuser to make extra calls for. This isn’t the sufferer’s fault; it’s how coercive management is supposed to work. 

This occurs inside relationships, however this can be a system downside. So we’d like a system that doesn’t depend on a single formal touchpoint for disclosure. We’d like methods that perceive the chance of police and courts. Different cultures already present what components of this might appear like. Within the Netherlands, each birthing individual has a authorized proper to kraamzorg, a compulsory care assistant who visits every day for 8-10 days postpartum. Haudenosaunee governance provides one other mannequin, embodying a broader precept that nobody ought to carry household and group care alone. That is being drawn on immediately at locations just like the Six Nations Delivery Centre, which provides residence visits to assist new moms. 

We’d like higher visibility at WIC visits, pediatric appointments, and hospital stays. Extra contacts could result in earlier intervention, as ladies share extra with completely different suppliers over time. A household planning clinic that later advanced into the ARCHES mannequin educated suppliers to display screen each affected person for coercion and share harm-reduction methods no matter disclosure. This lower the percentages of being pregnant coercion by 71% amongst ladies already experiencing accomplice abuse (Miller et al., 2011). Colorado’s Household Planning Initiative labored at a broader scale, eradicating value boundaries to long-acting contraception statewide, and coincided with a 62% drop in intimate accomplice murder over 4 years (Smith et al., 2023). Till change is applied in your space, it is very important know referral assets just like the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline and the Maternal Psychological Well being Hotline. 

The dying of moms in America isn’t solely about an abuser’s mindset, and it isn’t solely about coverage. Private management that’s permissible underneath legal guidelines and cultural methods will maintain extra ladies trapped in violent houses. This isn’t an argument in opposition to being pregnant, motherhood, or households. In reality, it’s the reverse. Motherhood is usually a lovely, empowering expertise, however solely these with the privilege of security get to expertise it. We’d like our helpers to step in sooner, and we have to defend the perinatal expertise by figuring out and coping with the true dangers it poses. 

This implies we have to display screen for coercion, train about their rights, provide contraception strategies that can be utilized privately, and alter legal guidelines that maintain ladies caught with their abusers. We should always take note of the information that claims compelled being pregnant is a type of violence, and we must always battle in opposition to state-sanctioned hurt written into legislation. Abuse carried out by the state continues to be abuse. Caring about moms means giving them again management of their our bodies and defending them from hurt inside their houses and communities. 

APA Reference Listing

Azad, H., Goin, D., Nathan, L. M., Goffman, D., Rajan, S., Reddy, U., D’Alton, M. E., & Laraque-Enviornment, D. (2026). Overdose, murder, and suicide as causes of maternal dying in america. New England Journal of Medication. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2512078

Bagwell-Grey, M. E., Thaller, J., Messing, J. T., & Durfee, A. (2021). Girls’s reproductive coercion and being pregnant avoidance: Associations with murder danger, sexual violence, and spiritual abuse. Violence In opposition to Girls, 27(12–13), 2294–2312. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012211005566

Boyle, Ok. M., Regoeczi, W., & Meyer, C. B. (2024). State divorce legal guidelines, reproductive care insurance policies, and pregnancy-associated murder charges, 2018-2021. JAMA Community Open, 7(11), e2444199. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.44199 [as discussed in Weissert, D. (2025, January 21). Pregnancy, divorce, and the dangerous gaps in state laws. Public Health Post. https://publichealthpost.org/sexual-reproductive-health/pregnancy-divorce-and-the-dangerous-gaps-in-state-laws/]

Shiny, M., Amendola, A., Harris, D., & Delcher, C. (2025). Maternal murder charges amongst 15 United States. BMC Public Well being, 25, Article 3742. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-24818-2

Shiny, M., Amendola, A., & Roussos-Ross, D. (2024). Maternal Mortality Overview Committees ought to take a better have a look at murder deaths. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 231(2), 143–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2024.02.296

Campbell, J., Spearman, Ok., & Glass, N. (2025). Intimate accomplice murder, lethality evaluation, and security planning. In C. Mitchell et al. (Eds.), Intimate accomplice violence: A health-based perspective (2nd ed.). Oxford Educational. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197758991.003.0013

Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. (2021). Violence and being pregnant. https://www.cdc.gov/intimate-partner-violence/about/violence-and-pregnancy.html

Davies, R. L., Rice, Ok., & Rock, A. J. (2023). A scientific assessment of casual supporters of intimate accomplice violence survivors: The intimate accomplice violence mannequin of casual supporter readiness. PeerJ, 11, Article e15160. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15160

Dave, D. M., Durrance, C., Erten, B., Wang, Y., & Wolfe, B. L. (2025). Abortion restrictions and intimate accomplice violence within the Dobbs period (NBER Working Paper No. 33916). Nationwide Bureau of Financial Analysis. https://www.nber.org/papers/w33916

Kozhimannil, Ok. B., et al. (2023, January 30). Practically half of pregnant folks experiencing intimate accomplice violence will not be screened earlier than or after being pregnant. College of Minnesota Faculty of Public Well being. https://www.sph.umn.edu/news/nearly-half-of-pregnant-people-experiencing-intimate-partner-violence-are-not-screened-for-it-before-or-after-pregnancy

Miller, E., Decker, M. R., McCauley, H. L., Tancredi, D. J., Levenson, R. R., Waldman, J., Schoenwald, P., & Silverman, J. G. (2011). A household planning clinic accomplice violence intervention to cut back danger related to reproductive coercion. Contraception, 83(3), 274–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2010.07.013

Pennsylvania Coalition In opposition to Home Violence. (n.d.). Home violence statistics. https://www.pcadv.org/

Smith, E. J., Bailey, B. A., & Cascio, A. (2023). Sexual coercion, intimate accomplice violence, and murder: A scoping literature assessment. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(5), 3378–3391. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221150474 

Smith, E. L. (2022). Feminine homicide victims and victim-offender relationship, 2021 (NCJ 305613). Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/female-murder-victims-and-victim-offender-relationship-2021

American School of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Well being Look after Underserved Girls. (2013). ACOG Committee Opinion No. 554: Reproductive and sexual coercion. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 121(2), 411–415. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2013/02/reproductive-and-sexual-coercion

American School of Surgeons. (2024, February 8). Pregnant ladies residing in states with restricted entry to abortion face greater ranges of intimate accomplice murder [Press release]. https://www.facs.org/media-center/press-releases/2024/pregnant-women-living-in-states-with-limited-access-to-abortion-face-higher-levels-of-intimate-partner-homicide/

Colorado Public Radio. (2024, October 22). Home violence deaths in Colorado dropped by greater than a 3rd in 2023, however abuse circumstances stay excessive. https://www.cpr.org/2024/10/22/domestic-violence-deaths-in-colorado-2023-drop/

Tarzia, L., & McKenzie, M. (2024). Reproductive coercion and abuse in intimate relationships: Girls’s perceptions of perpetrator motivations. PLOS ONE, 19(4), Article e0299069. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299069

Wallace, M. (2022). Science replace: Being pregnant-associated homicides on the rise in america, suggests NICHD-funded examine. Eunice Kennedy Shriver Nationwide Institute of Youngster Well being and Human Improvement. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/newsroom/news/091622-pregnancy-associated-homicide

Wallace, M., Gillispie-Bell, V., Cruz, Ok., Davis, Ok., & Vilda, D. (2021). Murder throughout being pregnant and the postpartum interval in america, 2018–2019. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 138(5), 762–769. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004567

WomensLaw.org. (2025). Hazard evaluation. https://www.womenslaw.org/about-abuse/am-i-being-abused/danger-assessment

Concerning the Creator

Monica Amorosi, LMHC, CCTP, NCC

Monia is a Licensed Psychological Well being Counselor and Scientific Staff Lead at Seven Starling, a number one maternal psychological well being group, the place she oversees perinatal specialists whereas treating particular person sufferers and facilitating postpartum assist teams. As a Licensed Scientific Trauma Supplier with specialised coaching in interpersonal violence and household attachment dynamics, Monica brings vital experience to understanding how trauma and intimate accomplice violence influence maternal psychological well being outcomes. Her scientific method integrates evidence-based trauma therapies, together with somatic remedy, DBT, and ACT, positioning her uniquely to handle the complicated intersection of violence, trauma, and perinatal psychological well being. By means of her direct work with pregnant and postpartum ladies, Monica has witnessed firsthand how the perinatal interval each heightens vulnerability to violence and presents essential alternatives for life-saving intervention. Monica is licensed in NY, MD, TX, and CO. Learn More

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