ABSTRACT
Domestic violence, a curiously sanitised notion for what it often hides, appears in primary care in a multitude of ways and is rarely addressed. Women may be depressed and not respond to antidepressants, they may have alcohol problems, sustain fractures, always appear at appointments with their partners. As domestic violence often appears for the first time during pregnancy and postnatally, many midwives and health visitors are now asking questions like:
• ‘Does (or in the past has) anyone you know or love hurt you in any way physically, emotionally or sexually? I ask this question because it is so common for violence to begin in pregnancy.’
