Clinical Chats: a Podcast for Sexual and Reproductive Health Professionals · Clinical Training Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health

Addressing Pregnancy-Associated Deaths: IPV and Homicide

·29 min·1 clip

The most dangerous time is when someone tries to leave an abusive partner.

Clinical Chats opens a multi-episode series on the role of Title X clinicians in preventing pregnancy-associated death in the U.S. It centers this installment on intimate partner violence. Karen Trister Grace joins as the guest. She is an assistant professor at George Mason University School of Nursing, where her research focuses on reproductive coercion, intimate partner violence, and health equity. She is also a practicing midwife of more than two decades and currently sees patients at Mary's Center, a non-profit FQHC with locations in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. The episode starts with the public-health scale of the problem and then moves into the clinical setting. The discussion asks what Title X teams should notice when caring for patients who may become pregnant or are postpartum. Screening comes up as a practical tool. So does the need to do it in a way that protects patient safety and autonomy. The conversation makes clear that disclosure cannot be forced. A clinician may ask the right question and still hear no. That outcome is treated as part of the work, not as failure. The guest explains that asking again can let patients know this is a place where help is available when they are ready. The episode also addresses how to respond when there are signs of injury but no disclosure. In those moments, the focus stays on acknowledgment, access, and leaving the door open. Non-physical abuse is given explicit attention. The discussion validates it as abuse and notes that it can carry real health consequences. Reproductive coercion is named as a key subset of intimate partner violence. The episode treats it as behavior that interferes with reproductive autonomy. Throughout, the tone stays measured and clinically oriented. The conversation keeps returning to the practical duties of sexual and reproductive health professionals.

As heard by us

A serious, practical clinical discussion of IPV, reproductive coercion, and pregnancy-associated death for sexual and reproductive health professionals.

Clinical Chats treats intimate partner violence, reproductive coercion, and pregnancy-associated death as urgent clinical realities, not abstractions, and keeps the focus on what Title X clinicians can actually do.

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Why you'd press play

You want concrete language for asking about IPV without forcing disclosure.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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