Intimate Partner Violence and Maternal Representations

Abstract

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a global crisis, impacting up to 20.1% of mothers during pregnancy (Gazmararian et al., 1996), and it has clinical and social implications for women, children, families, and communities (Cook & Bewley, 2008). Experiencing IPV while pregnant can negatively influence the foundational mechanisms of human emotional relationships (Levendosky, Bogat, & Huth-Bocks, 2011). This qualitative study sought to understand how the lived experience of IPV during pregnancy shaped maternal representations and influenced experiences of connection and disconnection with their fetus and child during pre and postnatal development of the attachment process. The Listening Guide, a feminist qualitative research method, was used to analyze the stories of five women participants following their 1-hour interview (Gilligan, 2015). Findings indicated that a mother’s maternal representations are directly influenced when she experiences IPV while pregnant, thus impacting how she connects or disconnects with her baby from conception. Assessing these five mothers’ lived experiences of IPV furthered the understanding of maternal representations of themselves, themselves as a mother, and their babies. It also led to unexpected findings regarding these mothers’ ability or inability to connect with their babies from conception. The findings support the development of a protective style in response to mothering in an environment of IPV. They also highlight the influence of maternal stress pre and postnatally—both warrant further study.