BackgroundPerinatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continues in Nigeria because of the poor use of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services. This study reports on the barriers preventing mothers of vertically infected HIV-seropositive infants to use the PMTCT services at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, Nigeria.MethodsThis is a descriptive study conducted between January and April, 2014. A quantitative survey was applied to detect barriers along the PMTCT services cascade among 52 mothers of vertically infected HIV-seropositive infants. This includes 22 women who attended antenatal care at the Federal Medical Centre (designated as Group A mothers) and 30 women who did not receive any form of PMTCT service (Group B mothers). The study was supplemented with a focused group discussion involving 12 discussants from the two groups.ResultsIn the quantitative assessment: among the Group A mothers, falling asleep was the most common reason (n=22, 100%) for missing therapeutic/prophylactic antiretroviral medicine; financial constraint (n=22, 100%) was the most common reason for antenatal care visit defaults; and a lot of the mothers (n=11, 50.0%) did not give nevirapine to their newborns because they delivered at home. Among Group B mothers, unawareness of HIV-seropositive status was the most common reason (n=28, 93.3%) given for not accessing PMTCT services. In the qualitative study: noninvolvement of male partners, stigma and discrimination experienced by HIV-seropositive mothers, financial constraints in couples, involvement of traditional birth attendants in antenatal care and delivery of HIV-infected women, unawareness of HIV-seropositive status by pregnant women, poor health system, and the lack of funding for PMTCT services at private and rural health facilities were the major barriers preventing the use of PMTCT services.ConclusionIn order to reduce the missed opportunities for PMTCT interventions in Makurdi and by extension the Benue State it represents in Nigeria, strong political and financial commitments are needed to overcome the identified barriers.

Objective To evaluate the burden, causes and outcomes of severe non-obstetric maternal complications in Nigerian public tertiary hospitals.Design Secondary analysis of a nationwide cross-sectional study.Setting Forty-two tertiary health facilities.Population Women admitted with complications during pregnancy, childbirth or puerperium.Methods All cases of severe maternal outcome (SMO: maternal near-miss or maternal death) due to non-obstetric causes were prospectively identified over a 1-year period. Maternal near-miss was defined using organ-system dysfunction (WHO), clinical, or management-based criteria.Main outcome measures Causes and contributions of non-obstetric complications to SMO; fetal and neonatal outcomes; health service events associated with non-obstetric complications; and mortality index (% of maternal death/SMO). ResultsOf 100 107 women admitted with complications, 9401 (9.4%) were for non-obstetric causes; and 4.0% (375/9401) suffered severe non-obstetric complications. Of the 375 cases of severe nonobstetric complications, 48.8% (183/375) were near-misses and 51.2% (192/375) were maternal deaths. Severe anaemia unrelated to haemorrhage contributed 61.2% of near-misses and 32.8% of maternal deaths. The highest mortality indices were observed for cancer (91.7%), hepatic diseases (81.8%) and HIV/AIDS/HIV wasting syndrome (80.4%). Fatality was significantly high with extremes of age and no formal education. Regarding organ dysfunctions, neurological (77.1%) and cardiovascular (75.0%) dysfunctions had the highest mortality indices. Perinatal mortality was 65.9%. Time from diagnosis of severe non-obstetric complications to review by senior medical personnel, and to definitive intervention was <30 minutes in 30.2% and 29.8% of women with SMO, respectively. However, over 240 minutes elapsed between diagnosis and definitive intervention in more than one-third of women with SMO.Conclusion Non-obstetric complications are associated with poorer pregnancy outcomes and deserve attention similar to that accorded obstetric complications. Tweetable abstract Non-obstetric causes are important contributors to maternal deaths and life-threatening morbidities in Nigerian hospitals. Please cite this paper as: Adeniran AS, Ocheke AN, Nwachukwu D, Adewole N, Ageda B, Onile T, Umezulike AC, Aboyeji AP, Oladapo OT, for the Nigeria Near-miss and Maternal Death Surveillance Network. Non-obstetric causes of severe maternal complications: a secondary analysis of the Nigeria Near-miss and Maternal Death Survey. BJOG 2019; 126 (S3): 41-48.

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BackgroundIn Nigeria, reports of the outcomes of prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) interventions had been limited to the MTCT rates of HIV, with no information on HIV-free survival (HFS) in the HIV-exposed infants over time.MethodsA retrospective study between June 2008 and December 2011 at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, Nigeria comparing HFS rates at 3 and 18 months according to the infant feeding pattern at the 6th week of life. HFS was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis and association of maternal and infant variables and risk of HIV acquisition or death was tested in a Cox regression analysis.Results801 HIV uninfected infants at 6 weeks of life were studied in accordance with their reported cumulative feeding pattern. This includes 196 infants on exclusive breast feeding (EBF); 544 on exclusive breast milk substitute (EBMS) feeding and 61 on mixed feeding (MF). The overall HFS was 94.4% at 3 months and this declined significantly to 87.1% at the 18 months of age (p-value = 0.000). The infants on MF had the lowest HFS rates of 75.7% at 3 months and 69.8% at 18 months. The HFS rate for infants on EBF was 97.4% at 3 months and 92.5% at 18 month whilst infants on EBMS had HFS of 99.1% at 3 months and 86.2% at 18 months. A higher and significant drop off in HFS at the two time points occurred between infants on EBMS (12.9%) compared to infants on EBF (4.9%), p-value of 0.002, but not between infants on MF (5.9%) and EBMS, p-value of 0.114 and those on MF and EBF, p-value of 0.758. In Cox regression multivariate analyses; MF, gestational age of ˂ 37 weeks, and a high pre-delivery maternal viral load were consistently associated with HIV infection or death at 3 months and 18 months (p ˂0.05).ConclusionFor a better HFS in our setting; MF must be avoided, efforts to deliver babies at term in mothers with reduced viral load are advocated and EBF must be promoted as the safest and the most feasible mode of infant-feeding.

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