Understanding abuse during pregnancy and reproduction
Domestic abuse can intensify or take new forms during pregnancy and around reproductive choices — often in ways that are hidden, misunderstood or minimised. These specialist trainings help churches, practitioners and community leaders recognise how power and control operate in these contexts, understand the impact on women and babies, and respond safely, compassionately and effectively. Together, they equip you to create spaces where survivors are believed, supported and protected, and where responsibility for abuse is placed clearly with the perpetrator.
Pregnancy and domestic abuse
Pregnancy does not protect women from abuse — for many, the risk increases.
This training explores how domestic abuse can begin or escalate during pregnancy and the postnatal period, and the impact this has on women and their babies. You’ll learn how to recognise abuse, respond safely to disclosures, and help create spaces where pregnant women feel believed, supported and protected.
In this half-day specialised training, we explore how abuse can begin or escalate during pregnancy and the postnatal period, and the profound impact this can have on women and their babies.
This course helps participants understand domestic abuse as a pattern of power and control, examine why pregnancy can increase risk, and recognise the physical, emotional and psychological effects on both mother and child. We also look honestly at the barriers women face in seeking help, including fear, shame and concerns about losing their children.
Participants are equipped with practical tools to respond safely to disclosures, offer non-judgmental support, and build protective, supportive environments where women feel able to speak. The training is particularly relevant for churches, community settings and professionals working with pregnant women and families who want to create safer spaces and respond with compassion, clarity and courage.
The training was invaluable and specific for long-term support, which is what we asked for. We will incorporate it as an annual training session for the team, as many of the women we work with have experienced domestic abuse.
Reproductive choices and coercive control
How does domestic abuse show up in reproductive choices?
This specialist training explores how reproductive choices can be used as a form of coercive control. We look at how abusers use pregnancy, contraception and fertility to maintain power, and how this abuse is often hidden or minimised. You’ll gain practical insight into recognising reproductive abuse and responding in ways that centre survivor safety and dignity.
In this half-day specialist training, we explore how domestic abuse can be perpetrated through control of reproductive choices. Drawing on the UK framework of coercive control, this course helps participants understand abuse not as isolated incidents, but as an ongoing pattern of power, control and domination.
Together, we explore how coercive control operates in the reproductive sphere, including forced pregnancy, forced abortion, contraception sabotage and reproductive surveillance. Using practical frameworks such as the Biderman Chart of Coercion, the training equips participants to recognise hidden forms of abuse, ask safe and insightful questions, and respond in ways that prioritise survivor safety and dignity.
This course is designed for practitioners, church leaders and those supporting survivors who want to deepen their understanding and strengthen their confidence in responding well to reproductive abuse, while holding perpetrators accountable for their behaviour.
It was an extremely useful and thought-provoking session
We very much appreciated how the training was adapted to make it relevant to our particular line of work. That makes the whole topic of domestic abuse much more accessible for workers in pregnancy centres, and I know many found it very informative in a way that shapes the way they work