SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: To Determine The Prevalence and Pattern of Domestic Violence Among Antenatal Patients Attending The Antenatal Clinic of The Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, Nigeria. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study. SETTING: Antenatal Clinic, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) SAMPLE: Four hundred and ninety-nine pregnant women. METHODS: Consecutive pregnant women attending their first antenatal clinic during the study period were interviewed using a standard questionnaire (Abuse Assessment Screen) to detect the incidence of domestic violence against them within the past one year and during the index pregnancy, the nature of the violence and the perpetrators. Results were analysed using Epi Info 2003. RESULTS: Four hundred and eighty-five (485) pregnant women were finally interviewed (97% response rate), 66 (13.6%) of them had a history of violence in the last one year, 39 (8.0%) of them in the index pregnancy and 16 (3.3%) of them had been sexually abused in the last one year. Husband was the perpetrator in the majority of cases and slapping and pushing with no injuries and no lasting pains were the most common pattern of violence. Risk factors for domestic violence included; Adolescence (P<0.000001), unmarried/divorced/separated (P<0.000001), polygamy (P= 0.0001), uniformed men (P=0.02), Para 0 +o carrying their first pregnancy (P=0.0003), Third Trimester booking (P<0.000001), smoking (P= 0.01) and alcohol consumption (P<0.000001). CONCLUSION: Domestic violence is a prevalent and probably under-reported phenomenon in our environment. Public enlightenment and inclusion in religious programmes and pre-marriage/marriage counselling must be advocated to stem the tide. Routine screening with structured questions for domestic violence during antenatal visits should also be considered necessary in order to detect and institute effective interventions to save womenfolk from this agony