Fertility intent and contraceptive decision-making among HIV positive and negative antenatal clinic attendees in Durban, South Africa

Decision-Making on Contraceptive Use among Women Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Malaysia: A Qualitative Inquiry

BACKGROUND

Malaysia is the first country in the Western Pacific Region to receive the validation certificate for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The validation report recommends making sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV a priority. This article explores and assesses the sexual and reproductive health, rights, and access to healthcare services of Malaysia's women living with HIV (WLHIV).

METHODS

A qualitative secondary analysis conducted on 73 WLHIV from all over Malaysia comprised 11 in-depth interviews and 16 focus group discussions. Data were extracted from the original interview transcripts that emerged from the following questions: (1) "What are your experiences as a woman living with HIV in relation to your sexual and reproductive health and rights?" (2) "What are your experiences in accessing contraception?" (3) "What are your day-to-day experiences as a woman living with HIV?" Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Four themes emerged from the study findings: "lack of negotiation," "idealism in pregnancy," "coping with restrictions," and "past and future fears." The four themes are grounded in religion, a patriarchal culture, meaning and expectations of motherhood, taking risks and going against medical advice to pursue fertility desires, fear of HIV transmission, and the side effects of contraceptive use.

CONCLUSION

The complexities involved in decision-making regarding contraceptive use revealed how WLHIV may have unresolved reproductive health needs inconsistent with healthcare providers' focus on HIV management and prevention. Suggestions are made for improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights of WLHIV in Malaysia, which include establishing a reproductive health counseling program.

Exploring Women's Decision-Making Power and HIV/AIDS Prevention Practices in South Africa

Decisions regarding sexual and reproductive health significantly impact women's health and their protection against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. These decisions also impact females' ability to reach their reproductive goals. Women's autonomy is recognized to be vital to women's access to reproductive healthcare, the use of contraceptives, the capacity to avoid or receive treatment for STIs (including HIV), and other reproductive and sexual health issues. This research investigated the association between the decision-making power of South African women (of reproductive age) and their knowledge and practices regarding HIV/AIDS preventive measures. The present study used data from the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey 2016. A total of 8514 women aged 15-49 years who participated in the survey were used for this research. The mean age of the women was 30.21 years, with an SD of 9.86. Approximately 38.5% of the women decided on contraceptive use, and only 11.7% of women's partners and 49.8% of respondents were jointly involved in the decision-making process of contraceptive use. All HIV preventive measures under study were statistically significantly associated with high decision-making power; the use of a condom by the husband or partner of the women was the most significant; husbands or partners of the women with high autonomy were three times more likely to use condoms.

Consistent Condom Utilization and its Associated Factors among Sexually Active Female Anti-Retro Viral Treatment Users in Finoteselam District Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2018

Consistent condom utilization is the key strategy to prevent new HIV strain transmissions among ART users. There are limited evidences on consistent condom utilization among women who are on ART in Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted among sexually active female ART users from June to August, 2018. Data were collected using a systematic random sampling data collection method. The multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify the predictors for the outcome Results: study indicated that 137(34.2%) women reported that they were using condom for the last three months, of whom 81 (59.1% (n = 137)) used condoms consistently. Respondents` age group from 21-30 (AOR = 4.381, 95%CI = 1.05, 18.331), Counseling about condom utilization (ARO = 9.442, 95% CI = 4.387, 20.32) and husbands` educational status "diploma and above" (AOR = 3.65, 95% CI = 1.007, 13.227) were significantly associated with condom utilization.

Motherhood and HIV: reproductive desire, ambivalent feelings and a/an (not) offered care

OBJECTIVE

To identify in the scientific literature the feelings of women living with HIV in relation to reproduction and motherhood, as well as the care provided by health professionals regarding reproductive health as a right.

METHOD

Integrative review carried out in 2017, in the databases LILACS, PUBMED, BDENF and SciELO Virtual Library. We analyzed 30 articles.

RESULTS

As feelings, the motivation for reproduction and self-care, fears, uncertainties and hopes were evidenced. As care, services that support reproductive decisions were evidenced, but, predominantly, the disregard for the desire and care incipience for reproductive planning.

CONCLUSION

There is no comprehensive and humanized work on the reproductive issues of these women, either through the neglect of the desire and viability of gestation or by the incipient care to the ambivalent emotional experiences. There is a need to qualify the care model in order to configure it, in fact, as care, aiming at guaranteeing reproductive rights.

Uptake of permanent contraception among women in sub-Saharan Africa: a literature review of barriers and facilitators

OBJECTIVE

Uptake of permanent contraception among women remains low in sub-Saharan Africa compared to other regions. We aimed to synthesize available evidence on barriers to, and facilitators of permanent contraception with regards to tubal ligation among women in sub-Saharan Africa.

STUDY DESIGN

We reviewed literature on tubal ligation among African women published between January 1, 2000 and October 30, 2017. We searched PubMed, Global health, EMBASE, Web of science, and Google scholar for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies which reported on barriers and/or facilitators to uptake of tubal ligation in sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, we conducted a narrative synthesis and categorized our findings using a framework based on the social ecological model.

RESULTS

We included 48 articles in the review. Identified barriers to tubal ligation among women included individual-level (myths and misconceptions, fear of surgery, irreversibility of procedure, religious beliefs), interpersonal-level (male partner disapproval), and organizational-level (lack of healthcare worker expertise and equipment) factors. Facilitating factors included achievement of desired family size and perceived effectiveness (individual-level), supportive male partners and knowing other women with permanent contraception experience (interpersonal-level), and finally, subsidized cost of the procedure and task-sharing with lower cadre healthcare workers (organizational-level).

CONCLUSIONS

Barriers to, and facilitators of permanent contraception among women in sub-Saharan Africa are multilevel in nature. Strategies countering these barriers should be prioritized, as effective contraception can promote women's health and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to these strategies, more quantitative research is needed to further understand patient-level factors associated with uptake of permanent contraception among women.

Reproductive decision-making among postpartum HIV-infected women in rural South Africa

Despite pregnancy spacing recommendations to optimize health outcomes among mothers and neonates, unplanned pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa is common among women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (WLHIV). This study examined factors associated with reproductive decision-making among WLHIV to inform pregnancy-planning interventions. WLHIV in rural South Africa (n = 165) were assessed at 12 months postpartum. The relative importance of factors associated with reproductive decision-making was estimated. Women were a mean of 28 years old (SD = 5.71). Risk of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV (Mean = 0.43; SD = 0.33) had the greatest impact on decision-making, followed by partners' desires (M = 0.22; SD = 0.18), family preferences (M = 0.18; SD = 0.13), and community opinion (M = 0.17; SD = 0.13). MTCT was most important to women with greater HIV knowledge. However, WLHIV who had been diagnosed with HIV for a longer time placed more emphasis on partner preference and community opinion, and less importance on MTCT risk. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) was less important to women experiencing intimate partner violence and those with depression. Findings highlight the need for tailored, focused interventions to support the unique circumstances of WLHIV and support the inclusion of families and/or partners in the counseling process. Results underscore the need for perinatal preconception counseling for women during routine HIV care.

Reproduction and Fertility Beliefs, Perceptions, and Attitudes in People Living with HIV

People living with HIV (PLWH) have distinct needs when it comes to reproductive health, specifically regarding fertility, family planning, and pregnancy, and these needs are often complicated by HIV status. While there is ample research that focuses on reproductive health in PLWH through a quantitative lens, there is a lack of research using qualitative methods, namely, the narrative interview model. We searched PubMed and relevant abstracts to identify 72 articles published from 1997 to 2016 that described a qualitative framework for exploring the behaviors and perceptions regarding family planning, abortion, pregnancy, parenthood, fertility, and forced sterility in PLWH. The inclusion criteria initially showed 147 articles, which were further screened to exclude those that did not address fertility and family planning specifically. Our final sample of articles included articles related to qualitative research on reproductive attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of PLWH. Several of these articles were mixed-methods analyses, but our focus was on the qualitative portion only. Further qualitative works in this area will not only contribute to gaps quantitative research in the field cannot capture by design, but also inform clinical practice, policy, and interventions through systematic, in-depth evaluation.

Emtonjeni-A Structural Intervention to Integrate Sexual and Reproductive Health into Public Sector HIV Care in Cape Town, South Africa: Results of a Phase II Study

Integration of sexual and reproductive health within HIV care services is a promising strategy for increasing access to family planning and STI services and reducing unwanted pregnancies, perinatal HIV transmission and maternal and infant mortality among people living with HIV and their partners. We conducted a Phase II randomized futility trial of a multi-level intervention to increase adherence to safer sex guidelines among those wishing to avoid pregnancy and adherence to safer conception guidelines among those seeking conception in newly-diagnosed HIV-positive persons in four public-sector HIV clinics in Cape Town. Clinics were pair-matched and the two clinics within each pair were randomized to either a three-session provider-delivered enhanced intervention (EI) (onsite contraceptive services and brief milieu intervention for staff) or standard-of-care (SOC) provider-delivered intervention. The futility analysis showed that we cannot rule out the possibility that the EI intervention has a 10 % point or greater success rate in improving adherence to safer sex/safer conception guidelines than does SOC (p = 0.573), indicating that the intervention holds merit, and a larger-scale confirmatory study showing whether the EI is superior to SOC has merit.

An Approach to Developing a Prediction Model of Fertility Intent Among HIV-Positive Women and Men in Cape Town, South Africa: A Case Study

As a 'case-study' to demonstrate an approach to establishing a fertility-intent prediction model, we used data collected from recently diagnosed HIV-positive women (N = 69) and men (N = 55) who reported inconsistent condom use and were enrolled in a sexual and reproductive health intervention in public sector HIV care clinics in Cape Town, South Africa. Three theoretically-driven prediction models showed reasonable sensitivity (0.70-1.00), specificity (0.66-0.94), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.79-0.89) for predicting fertility intent at the 6-month visit. A k-fold cross-validation approach was employed to reduce bias due to over-fitting of data in estimating sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve. We discuss how the methods presented might be used in future studies to develop a clinical screening tool to identify HIV-positive individuals likely to have future fertility intent and who could therefore benefit from sexual and reproductive health counseling around fertility options.

Sustained High HIV Incidence in Young Women in Southern Africa: Social, Behavioral, and Structural Factors and Emerging Intervention Approaches

Young women in southern Africa experience some of the highest incidence rates of HIV infection in the world. Across southern Africa, HIV prevalence among women increases rapidly between the teenage years and young adulthood. Adult HIV prevalence is 16.8 % in South Africa, 23 % in Botswana, 23 % in Lesotho, and 26.5 % in Swaziland. Existing research has illuminated some of the key social, behavioral, and structural factors associated with young women's disproportionate HIV risk, including gendered social norms that advantage male power in sexual relationships and age disparities in relationships between younger women and older male partners. Important structural factors include the region's history of labor migration and legacy of family disruption, and entrenched social and economic inequalities. New interventions are emerging to address these high levels of HIV risk in the key population of young women, including structural interventions, biomedical prevention such as PrEP, and combined HIV prevention approaches.

Fertility desires and unmet need for family planning among HIV infected individuals in two HIV clinics with differing models of family planning service delivery

BACKGROUND

Eliminating family planning (FP) unmet need among HIV-infected individuals (PLHIV) is critical to elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission. We assessed FP unmet need among PLHIV attending two clinics with differing models of FP services. Nsambya Home Care provided only FP information while Mulago HIV clinic provided information and contraceptives onsite.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional study conducted between February-June 2011, we documented pregnancies, fertility desires, and contraceptive use among 797 HIV-infected men and women (408 in Mulago and 389 in Nsambya). FP unmet need was calculated among women who were married, unmarried but had sex within the past month, did not desire the last or future pregnancy at all or wished to postpone for ≥ two years and were not using contraceptives. Multivariable analyses for correlates of FP unmet need were computed for each clinic.

RESULTS

Overall, 40% (315) had been pregnant since HIV diagnosis; 58% desired the pregnancies. Of those who were not pregnant, 49% (366) did not desire more children at all; 15.7% wanted children then and 35.3% later. The unmet need for FP in Nsambya (45.1%) was significantly higher than that in Mulago at 30.9% (p = 0.008). Age 40+ compared to 18-29 years (OR = 6.05; 95% CI: 1.69, 21.62 in Mulago and OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.90 in Nsambya), other Christian denominations (Pentecostal and Seventh Day Adventists) compared to Catholics (OR = 7.18; 95% CI: 2.14, 24.13 in Mulago and OR = 0.23; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.80 in Nsambya), and monthly expenditure > USD 200 compared to < USD40 in Nsambya (OR = 0.17; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.90) were associated with FP unmet need.

CONCLUSIONS

More than half of the pregnancies in this population were desired. Unmet need for FP was very high at both clinics and especially at the clinic which did not have contraceptives onsite. Lower income and younger women were most affected by the lack of contraceptives onsite. Comprehensive and aggressive FP programs are required for fertility support and elimination of FP unmet need among PLHIV, even with integration of FP information and supplies into HIV clinics.

Effect of HIV status on fertility intention and contraceptive use among women in nine sub-Saharan African countries: evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys

BACKGROUND

Expanding access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) means that HIV is no longer a death sentence. This change has implications for reproductive decisions and behaviors of HIV-infected individuals.

DESIGN

Using multiple rounds of biomarker data from Demographic and Health Surveys (2004-2012) in nine sub-Saharan African countries, we compare patterns of associations between HIV status and fertility intention and between current use of modern contraception and HIV status in the context of expanding ART coverage.

RESULTS

Generally, results show that knowledge of HIV status and proportion of women ever tested for HIV increased substantially between the two surveys for almost all countries. Whereas modern contraceptive use slightly increased, fertility intentions remained relatively stable, except for Rwanda, where they decreased. RESULTS from the two surveys for the nine countries do however indicate that there is no clear consistent pattern of fertility intention and modern contraceptive use behavior by HIV status, with variations observed across countries. However, multivariate analyses show that for Rwanda and Zimbabwe women who were HIV positive, with knowledge of their status, had lower odds of wanting more children. Similarly only in Rwanda (both surveys) were HIV-positive women who knew their status more likely to be current users of contraception compared with women who were HIV negative. The reverse was observed for Zimbabwe.

CONCLUSIONS

Generally, the results point to the fact that the assumption that reproductive intention and behavior of HIV-positive women will differ compared with that of HIV-negative women may only hold true to the extent that women know their HIV status. Continuous expansion of voluntary counseling and testing services and integration of HIV treatment and care services with reproductive health services are thus warranted.

Fertility and contraceptive decision-making and support for HIV infected individuals: client and provider experiences and perceptions at two HIV clinics in Uganda

Background

Some people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) want to have children while others want to prevent pregnancies; this calls for comprehensive services to address both needs. This study explored decisions to have or not to have children and contraceptive preferences among PLHIV at two clinics in Uganda.

Methods

This was a qualitative cross-sectional study. We conducted seventeen focus group discussions and 14 in-depth interviews with sexually active adult men and women and adolescent girls and boys, and eight key informant interviews with providers. Overall, 106 individuals participated in the interviews; including 84 clients through focus group discussions. Qualitative latent content analysis technique was used, guided by key study questions and objectives. A coding system was developed before the transcripts were examined. Codes were grouped into categories and then themes and subthemes further identified.

Results

In terms of contraceptive preferences, clients had a wide range of preferences; whereas some did not like condoms, pills and injectables, others preferred these methods. Fears of complications were raised mainly about pills and injectables while cost of the methods was a major issue for the injectables, implants and intrauterine devices. Other than HIV sero-discordance and ill health (which was cited as transient), the decision to have children or not was largely influenced by socio-cultural factors. All adult men, women and adolescents noted the need to have children, preferably more than one. The major reasons for wanting more children for those who already had some were; the sex of the children (wanting to have both girls and boys and especially boys), desire for large families, pressure from family, and getting new partners. Providers were supportive of the decision to have children, especially for those who did not have any child at all, but some clients cited negative experiences with providers and information gaps for those who wanted to have children.

Conclusions

These findings show the need to expand family planning services for PLHIV to provide more contraceptive options and information as well as expand support for those who want to have children.