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COOPER, Rebecca, GREIG, Julia, PIERCY, Hilary and COLLINI, Paul (2024). Investigating the Pregnancy and Post-Partum Health Experiences of Women Living with HIV. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 28 (8), 1330-1337.
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Abstract
Introduction: Pregnancy and the postpartum period is a difficult time for women living with HIV (WLWH) and postpartum engagement with HIV care is often reduced, with implications for health and well-being. We aimed to explore the postpartum health experiences of WLWH in relation to engagement in HIV care.
Methods: The NESTOR (iNvESTigating the pregnancy and pOst-paRtum health experience of women living with HIV) study was a UK based qualitative semi-structured interview study. 61 eligible women were identified. We used a purposive sampling technique to recruit women with differing levels of engagement in HIV care. Interviews were conducted via telephone or video call. Interviews were audio recorded and fully transcribed. We used a thematic approach for data analysis, and two researchers independently coded the data and established the key themes.
Results: 11 of 61 (18%) eligible women participated in the interviews, and the three main themes were ‘infant feeding decisions’, ‘managing the risk of mother to child transmission’, and ‘managing the knowledge of their HIV status’. These themes offer detailed insights into the significant psychological and emotional challenges these women had experienced, and the practical support from healthcare professionals in both HIV and maternity services that had enabled them to navigate those challenges.
Discussion: There have been life-changing developments in the treatment and care for people living with HIV. However, even in the U = U (undetectable = untransmittable) era, traditional concerns about breastfeeding, risk of transmission to the infant and stigma continue to shape the postpartum experience of WLWH. As these impact on their emotional and psychological wellbeing, support in these areas needs to be prioritised.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | ** From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for this article: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ** Acknowledgements: We would like to offer our thanks and acknowledgements to the staff at the HIV centre at which this study was based, who helped to contact and recruit patients as well as attend the interviews. We also offer our sincerest gratitude to all of the participants of this study, without whom it would not have been possible. **Journal IDs: pissn 1092-7875; eissn 1573-6628 **Article IDs: publisher-id: s10995-024-03962-y; manuscript: 3962 **History: published 01-08-2024; online 21-06-2024; published_online 21-06-2024; registration 03-06-2024; accepted 01-06-2024 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Post-partum, Infant feeding, Pregnancy, Neonatal screening, HIV, Social support, Breastfeeding |
| Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-024-03962-y |
| Page Range: | 1330-1337 |
| SWORD Depositor: | Colin Knott |
| Depositing User: | Colin Knott |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Jul 2024 16:21 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Jul 2024 16:30 |
| URI: | https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/33999 |
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