"Pregnant women murdered at an alarming rate." "Killings
of new, expectant mothers mount." "Many new or expectant
mothers die violent deaths." "Violence trails expectant
mothers." "Pregnant mothers often die of murder."
These headlines top a highly-publicized new series
of articles by Donna St. George of the Washington
Post. The series, which appeared in many
major newspapers and media outlets this week, details
an alleged epidemic of maternal homicide by male
intimates.
The series powerfully depicts the tragedies of murdered
expectant or new mothers. The mother-to-be killed
the day her mother ordered the cake for her baby
shower. The pregnant 14 year-old murdered by her
14 year-old ex-boyfriend. The bank manager killed
because she wouldn’t convert to her husband’s religion
before their twins were born. However, despite the
emotion, alarm bells and blaring headlines, the
series fails to build the case that maternal homicide
is an epidemic, is on the rise, or is even a significant
social problem.
According to the Post’s numbers, there are
about 100 documented murders of pregnant women in
the United States each year. Yet according to the
Centers for Disease Control, nearly four million
women give birth each year. One out of 40,000
is not an epidemic. The Post speculates
that the true number could be significantly higher
but also notes that 30% of these killings are not
related to childbearing, but instead involve drug
dealing, robberies, errant gunfire, or other causes.
And some pregnant women are killed by other women,
as in the recent Missouri murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett
by a woman who cut her live baby from her womb.
St. George and others point to a Journal of the
American Medical Association article which states
that in Maryland a “pregnant or recently pregnant
woman is more likely to be a victim of homicide
than to die of any other cause." This sounds alarming
until one considers that there are an average of
eight murders of pregnant women each year in Maryland--alongside
75,000 live births.
St. George also
cites a study by the Massachusetts Department of
Public Health which allegedly showed murder to
be the biggest cause of death for pregnant women
and new mothers. When this study was released
the Boston Globe summarized its
findings as follows:
“Murder is the
leading cause of death for Massachusetts mothers
in the 21-month period from when they become
pregnant until their babies reach their first
birthday, according to a state review that shows
domestic violence today is more dangerous than
medical complications from childbirth.”
However, when
public health specialist Ned Holstein of the
Mount Sinai School of Medicine examined the
report, he found that murder was well down the
list of alleged causes of maternal death.
According to the study's own data, the leading
causes of death of pregnant or recently-pregnant
women over a 10-year period were Medical
conditions (152), Motor vehicle accidents (21),
Domestic violence homicides (20), other
homicides (10), and Miscellaneous (29). The
epidemic of domestic violence-related homicides
sweeping Massachusetts consists of an average of
two deaths per year.
“The risk of murder
by an intimate is extremely small, not an
epidemic,“ says Holstein, a physician who also
heads Fathers and Families of Massachusetts.
“Although every death is tragic, murder of
pregnant women simply does not rank as a
significant public health problem.”
St. George’s article series expresses commendable
concern about battery of pregnant women but errs
in claiming a link between domestic violence and
pregnancy. According to longtime domestic violence
researcher Richard J. Gelles, co-author of Behind
Closed Doors, “to be pregnant alone doesn't
put a woman at risk.”
“Women between the ages of 20 and 34 suffer the
highest rate of domestic violence, and that is also
the most likely age to be pregnant,” he says. “Age
is driving the risk, not pregnancy.”
Unfortunately, alarmist claims of pregnant women
being victimized by male partners are not new. For
example, in 1993 Time magazine and many major
newspapers reported that, according to the March
of Dimes, domestic violence was the leading cause
of birth defects. This claim was later found to
be completely fictional, and was retracted by
Time and others.
Similarly, the claim that “22 to 35 percent of women
who visit medical emergency rooms are there for
injuries related to domestic violence” has been
echoed countless times by major media outlets and
in politicians’ sound bytes. However, according
to Emergency Room data collected by the Centers
for Disease Control and the Justice Department,
only about 1% of women's injuries are inflicted
by male intimates.
St. George uses anecdote and emotion in place of
facts and research in order to find a mythical crisis
of maternal homicide. It is another example of how
legitimate concern for battered women often devolves
into an alarmist and anti-male view of domestic
violence and gender relations.
